Land Core Newsletter - February 2021
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
As storms and extreme weather have ravaged much of the country, including farms and rural communities, our thoughts are with all of those struggling.
We remain committed to our work ensuring farmers have all the tools and support they need to build resilience into their operations now, and in the future.
Thank you for your support in helping us carry out this work together.
The Land Core Team
Risk Model News
We are thrilled to welcome Dr. David Lobell as an advisor on Land Core’s project to develop a statistical, predictive model of the risk mitigating benefits of soil health practices.
Dr. Lobell is a Professor at Stanford University in the Department of Earth System Science, Stanford Earth, and the Gloria and Richard Kushel Director of the Center on Food Security and the Environment. His award-winning research focuses on agriculture and food security, specifically on generating and using unique datasets to study rural areas throughout the world.
Stay tuned and learn more about the project here.
Federal Policy Tracker Alerts
Check out the update (v. 02/26/21), which includes up to date analysis of federal legislation focused on soil health and resilience and now offers a new resources tab – with memos and recommendations from over 40 diverse organizations!
If you would like to receive updates when new bills are added or major action is taken, join our new bill tracker alert list.
1st House Ag Committee Hearing
The risk mitigating potential of healthy soils received Congressional recognition yesterday as the new House Agriculture Committee held its first hearing of the 117th Congress on “Climate Change and the U.S. Agriculture and Forestry Sectors”.
The hearing featured renowned regenerative rancher and educator, Gabe Brown, and a clip from the movie, “Kiss the Ground”. Both witness statements and questions from the committee focused on how farmers and ranchers can be an essential part of the solution to climate issues.
In his testimony, Gabe Brown captured the diverse issues soil health addresses: “Whether your primary concern is a farmer’s bottom line, rural economic recovery, climate mitigation, sequestering carbon, reversing biodiversity collapse, cleaning our water and air, rehydrating our land so aquifers charge and springs flow again, providing land access for minorities and beginning farmers, or addressing the health crisis, regenerative agriculture provides the solution.”
In Case You Missed It
Watch the TEDx Santa Barbara Making Waves Conversations with Influencers and Disruptors featuring Aria McLauchlan and Harley Cross!
Enjoy this ~30 minute conversation and consider sharing with friends or and colleagues who might like to get to know our co-founders and learn more about our work.
Upcoming Events
Soil Health Innovations Conference by National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT)
Wednesday and Thursday, Mar. 8 - 9
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 panel now also features Dorn Cox (OpenTEAM), in addition to Bianca Moebius-Clune (NRCS) and Arohi Sharma (NRDC).
Stay up-to-date with opportunities to connect and learn through our speaking and events page here!
What We’re Reading
Vilsack Brings To-Do List as He Starts New Stint As Agriculture Secretary (Sec. Vilsack was confirmed Tuesday in the Senate; has pledged to focus USDA on pandemic recovery, food security, equity, climate-smart agriculture, and other issues)
February 24, 2021 | By: Chuck Abbott, Successful Farming
Zach Ducheneaux brings economic experience to Farm Service Agency (Zach is the first Native American to lead the USDA agency that oversees direct and guaranteed farm loans. He brings his extensive experience running Intertribal Agriculture Council and CDFI, Akiptan, to the role)
February 24, 2021 | By: AgWeek
New Evidence Shows Fertile Soil Gone From Midwestern Farms (Agricultural practices have caused a third of all cropland in the upper Midwest to lose its fertile topsoil, scientists say)
February 24, 2021 | By: Dan Charles, NPR
A Different Kind of Land Management: Let the Cows Stomp (Discusses the impact and potential climate benefits of regenerative grazing in the U.S.)
February 17, 2021 | By: Henry Fountain, NY Times
Soil degradation costs U.S. corn farmers a half-billion dollars every year (This estimate, by scientists at the University of Colorado, Boulder, specifies fertilizer costs to restore base fertility in degraded soils)
January 12, 2021 | Source: ScienceDaily
Conservation’s Impact on the Farm Bottom Line (A new study of seven farms identifies three key financial impacts of implementing conservation practices on farms across the U.S.)
2021 Study | By: K Coe Isom, Soil Health Partnership, Environmental Defense Fund