Land Core Newsletter - May 2021

 
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Dear Friends and Colleagues:

We’re thrilled to announce that Compeer Financial will be partnering on the development of the Land Core Risk Model. This has been in the works for some months now and will help to significantly scale the impact of the project.

Compeer is the third-largest cooperative in the Farm Credit System (with over $25 billion under management). They will bring deep relationships in midwestern agriculture, and decades of industry insights in both ag lending and insurance to support our model’s MVP development process.

Land Core’s Risk Model Working Group has been working since February, and will now be able to incorporate industry insights from Compeer to ensure that the model is tailored to the real world needs of lenders and insurers.

Piloting incentives with Compeer’s clients will also allow us to get meaningful feedback from farmers to truly meet their needs as they transition to regenerative soil health practices.

Please read and share our joint press release.

A few notes about the partnership:

  • Through the partnership, Compeer will become the first major agricultural financial services provider to approach risk assessment through the lens of soil health and sustainability.

  • Compeer will provide expertise on loan pricing, underwriting, appraisal, crop insurance, legal requirements etc., and aid in developing and testing meaningful incentives.

  • Land Core will test its MVP, along with new incentives developed in partnership with Compeer, in late summer and fall of 2021.

See more about the Land Core Risk Model here.

We’re excited about this new partnership and the opportunities to expand this work with many of you as we leverage the benefits of soil health to reimagine agricultural finance and insurance.

Sincerely,

The Land Core Team


Federal Policy Wins

Land Core and 450+ businesses and organizations have urged Congress to invest $200 billion into a more resilient US agriculture through the President's infrastructure package (the American Jobs Plan Act).

Thanks to all of you who signed on to this critical initiative! We were very pleased to see such a strong show of support.

Please continue to share the letter with your networks and Members of Congress. Read more & find the letter, including the full list of signees here →

Additionally, On May 27, Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-ME-1) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-7) and Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) led 30 of their colleagues in presenting a letter echoing the request above, urging House and Senate leadership to invest $200 billion over the next decade in farmers, ranchers, and rural communities as a part of the upcoming infrastructure and climate change legislation, including key pieces of their sponsored Agriculture Resilience Act (H.R.2803 / S.1337) and Climate Stewardship Act (S.1072 / H.R.2534). Read more →


Opportunity for Producers & Partners

USDA-NRCS is accepting applications for the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) On-Farm Conservation Innovation Trials for FY21, including for the Soil Health Demonstration Trials. See details and apply by June 21st →


What We're Reading

Biden order on climate financial risk reaches deep into the economy
Executive Order will direct agencies to mitigate the financial risk of climate change, make improvements to federal lending programs including agriculture loans.
Updated May 20, 2021 | By: Lorraine Woellert, Politico

Farm Credit CEOs discuss emerging opportunities to finance resilient agriculture
Three key areas where financial leaders are well-suited to engage in efforts to build climate resilience.
May 18, 2021 | By Maggie Monast, Environmental Defense Fund blog

USDA Announces New Initiative to Quantify Climate Benefits of Conservation Reserve Program
The agency will invest $10 million to measure and monitor soil carbon sequestration and other climate and environmental benefits of conservation practices.
May 25, 2021 | By: USDA Farm Service Agency

Agriculture in Biden’s budget request
Biden’s FY2022 budget requests 17 percent increase in discretionary funding for USDA, including increased funding for NRCS, ARS, NIFA, ERS, and others, with key focus on climate.
June 1, 2021 | By: Ximena Bustillo, Politico Weekly Agriculture

Ag, conservation alliance issues recommendations for USDA carbon bank
Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance recommendations focus on using carbon bank to run series of pilot projects.
May 3, 2021 | By: Philip Brasher, Agri-Pulse

Carbon storage offers hope for climate, cash for farmers
May 21, 2021 | By: The Associated Press, NBC News


Take Action

Please share the joint press release from Land Core & Compeer Financial with your networks!


Donate

Help us de-risk soil health practice adoption by de-risking finance. Your contributions will help fund the development and expansion of the Land Core Risk Model. Donate Now →


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