Risk and Resilience

Risk Mitigation

There is an ever-growing chorus of scientists, farmers, ranchers and businesses acknowledging healthy soil as one of the most effective tools to build resilience and mitigate the risks of flood and drought on agricultural land.

It is widely accepted that a 1% increase in soil organic matter can hold up to 20x its weight in water on land! That’s around 27,000 gallons of water per acre in the top six inches of soil. See here & here.

However the major institutions that are in the business of assessing risk, like insurers, banks, and governments, don’t yet reward producers who are managing their soils responsibly and reducing their risk. Why?

Outcomes Data

In order to assess risk, we need a way to quantify soil health on any given farm or ranch in America, and understand if the associated resilience has taken place. 

To do this, we need consistent, reliable data to build predictive models of risk.

Our work is focused on how to collect that data, and building the consistent soil health outcomes-verification infrastructure necessary to give all American farmers access to the savings they are entitled to when they increase their resilience.

Savings & Incentives

With sufficient data and modeling in place, we will be able to lower premiums for low risk (high soil health) producers. Banks will be able to extend more credit at lower rates, associated to the lower risk, and states will have the tools they need to reward producers for their resilience and stewardship.

Supply Chain Integration

With affordable, consistent, reliable data showing that soil is healthy and/or improving, we’ll also be able to create pathways for companies of all sizes to integrate farmers building healthy soils into supply chains.

Carbon and Ecosystem Services Markets

The same data will enable producers to economically access emerging markets and give those who are developing them a trustworthy way of verifying the credits they are buying.

How We Get There

Land Core is actively developing policy and coalition around this outcomes-based approach to bring real value to soil health in America.

We hope you’ll join us!