Land Core Newsletter - January 2021
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
With a new year comes a new Administration, a shifting policy landscape, and an incredible range of opportunities to advance soil health!
This is not a moment to be missed! We look forward to working with you all in the months ahead.
Please stay tuned, explore the Congressional Soil Health Bill Tracker below, and connect with us at one of the upcoming events listed here.
Sincerely,
The Land Core Team
Announcing Updated Congressional Bill Tracker
We are pleased to share our updated Congressional Soil Health Bill Tracker, which highlights bills introduced into U.S. Congress that could have a significant impact on soil health and resilience; potentially creating value, and addressing risks, for farmers, landscapes, businesses, and communities.
This expanded version of the tracker now features a bill summary, analysis, existing support and cosponsors, links to related materials, and the latest action in Congress for each bill.
It is intended to be a robust source of information and potential engagement for the soil health community.
Upcoming Events
Friday, Jan. 29 at 10:00 - 11:15 am EST
Priorities for the Next Secretary of Agriculture by Soil4Climate
This Friday, our Executive Director Aria McLauchlan moderates a conversation with leading scientists and soil health experts Ray Archuleta and Steve Apfelbaum. Unfortunately Gabe Brown is no longer able to attend as originally scheduled. Tune in and have your questions answered on the opportunities and priorities for soil health.
Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 4 - 5 pm PST
Making Waves Conversations with Influencers and Disruptors by TEDx Santa Barbara
In this TEDx live interview “The Opportunity Beneath Our Feet”, founders Aria McLauchlan and Harley Cross will discuss why our future depends on our soils; and how Land Core works across government, research, and the private sector to leverage our political and financial infrastructure to rebuild American agriculture into a force for regeneration.
Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 24 - 25 at 10 am - 2 pm MST
Regenerative Earth Summit Session 3: Finance, Technology & Policy by Regenerative Rising
Executive Director Aria McLauchlan will host the Opportunities to Advance Regenerative Agriculture through Policy panel on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 11 am MST. The panel brings together diverse perspectives and deep policy expertise to address the policies, missing infrastructure and incentives needed to advance the adoption of regenerative agriculture across the United States, and key approaches and priorities for the new administration. And don’t miss Aria’s Regenerative Slam™: The Policy Landscape in a New Administration.
Wednesday and Thursday, Mar. 8 - 9
Soil Health Innovations Conference by National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT)
ED Aria McLauchlan is a panelist on the Soil Health Innovations in Public Policy panel on March 9 at 12:00 pm MST. The panel will explore the need for data in policymaking in order to invest in healthy soil and risk mitigation. The discussion will include topics of data collection for policymakers, soil health indicators, and collaboration among traditional and unconventional stakeholders to fill knowledge gaps.
In the News: Reducing Risk in Ag Lending & Insurance
There is rapidly increasing attention on climate-related risks to the financial sector, with the Federal Reserve highlighting climate change in its most recent annual financial stability report, and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission publishing a report on financial risks to multiple sectors of the U.S. economy.
The agricultural sector is on the front lines of climate change, with farmers and ranchers facing immediate economic and environmental risks to their operations.
After the liberal Center for American Progress published a report this month laying out how climate change could pose major risks to the agricultural lending sector, the Farm Credit Council called for an open dialogue about some of the policy fixes highlighted in the report.
There is widespread recognition of healthy soil as one of the most effective tools to build resilience and mitigate the risks of flood and drought on agricultural land. However, the institutions that price risk, such as banks, insurers, and governments, do not yet incorporate these benefits into their risk pricing.
We look forward to sharing news and progress from Land Core's Risk Model Working Group in the coming weeks, as we work towards the development of a statistical, predictive model of the risk mitigating benefits of soil health practices.
Stay tuned and learn more about the project here.
Land Core is now on Twitter! Follow us for updates on Congressional hearings, USDA programs, and soil health opportunities.