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Dear friends and colleagues,
As we’ve progressed toward the end of the calendar year, Congress continued to introduce (and reintroduce) a range of agricultural bills with implications for soil health. While the longest government shutdown in U.S. history slowed the regularity of presented legislation in October and November, as evidenced by the number of new marker bills introduced in this area, bipartisan support for soil health-focused legislation remains consistent.
Land Core is pleased to share findings from a recently released paper by Dr. Gina Pizzo, which directly informs our ongoing risk modeling work, and was written as part of our FFAR and USDA AFRI-funded project examining how soil health practices reduce risk.
The research summarized below advances Land Core’s ongoing work to quantify how known soil health practices build resilience in agricultural systems.
Dear friends and colleagues,
Like many of you, our plates are full as we wrap up year-end work and dive into strategic planning for 2026. It's a time to look back and reflect on this year's challenges, progress, and wins. Overall, Land Core is encouraged by the growing recognition that soil health practices not only reduce financial and crop yield risk but also support better health for American farmers and families.
We're also tracking opportunities to continue advancing soil health, including a possible January farm bill markup, while monitoring recent USDA actions that bring both promise and uncertainty for farmers facing unstable markets, high costs, and volatile weather.
Following the longest shutdown in the history of the United States federal government, a long-awaited and highly debated funding package, the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026, was signed into law on November 12, 2025.
The legislation provides a full year of agriculture and FDA funding for FY26 Appropriations, along with a one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill, in lieu of the long-overdue five-year farm bill. The bill makes significant funding adjustments for key agricultural agencies and programs, many at lower levels than Land Core’s prior recommendations to strengthen support for soil health.
Dear friends and colleagues,
Last week, the government finally ended a history-making 43-day shutdown, allowing USDA and other government agencies to resume providing critical services to American farmers and ranchers. While economically distressed farmers still face a rocky path to recovery, the funding package provides a full year of Agriculture and FDA funding, and a one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill, in lieu of the long-overdue five-year farm bill.
Dear friends and colleagues,
As we move deeper into fall, under the shadow of the government shutdown, the landscape of federal policy is shifting with substantial challenges for American producers. Now into its third week, funding for programs critical to soil health remains on hold.
Dear friends and colleagues,
Throughout the summer, Congress continued to introduce (and reintroduce) a variety of agricultural legislation with both direct and indirect implications for soil health. While tensions between political parties grew following the signing of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill into law on July 4, 2025, bipartisan efforts to advance soil health-focused legislation remained ongoing.
Land Core previously identified four key policy recommendations in response to the Make Our Children Healthy Again: Assessment released on May 22, 2025. We noted that any public policy to address the chronic disease crisis and increasing nutrition insecurity should consider the soil from which food is grown.
Dear friends & colleagues, With a surprisingly busy summer behind us and harvest season well underway, the shifting weather serves as a natural reminder that we've entered the final quarter of 2025. Since our last newsletter, our team has been actively engaged in advancing soil health initiatives across the political spectrum. During August meetings on Capitol Hill, we attended a MAHA-inspired event on the Future of Farming at The Heritage Foundation, co-hosted with American Regeneration, underscoring the widespread political appeal of soil health and food systems that center human health.
Connect with us at one of these upcoming events!