Land Core Newsletter - January 2022
APD Farm, VA
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
We start the new year with optimism, resolve, and a heartfelt thank you for your generous support of Land Core’s work. Because of this community, we’re better positioned than ever to achieve our ambitious goals to advance soil health focused policy, risk modeling and education – and to seize the many opportunities ahead of us to put soil health at the center of a resilient food system.
With gratitude,
Aria & Harley
PS In case you missed it, revisit our 2021 year-in-review!
Land Core Team Update
Announcing Katie Fettes as Land Core’s new Programs Manager!
We are thrilled to be expanding the scope of our work with our esteemed colleague, Katie Fettes. After over a year streamlining our operations and communications processes, as well as lending support across various facets of our programs, Katie will now take up her new role as Land Core’s program manager.
Those of you who have worked with Katie firsthand can attest to her extremely thoughtful research, writing and analysis on a range of food, farming and conservation issues, and to her formidable organizational skills.
Katie is an independent contractor based in Toronto, Canada.
2022 Policy Updates & Objectives
In conjunction with our broader policy objectives for the Biden-Harris Administration & 117th Congress, in 2022, Land Core will work to advance three key policy objectives:
- Socialize Land Core’s soil health risk modeling, and advance related lending and insurance policies, within USDA
- Include risk mitigation policy in the 2023 Farm Bill (including adjustments to lending and crop insurance to better recognize and support soil health)
- Develop & advance broad coalitions, including Regenerate AmericaTM, to support soil health and regenerative ag systems
Update: Last year, we helped to generate support for unprecedented levels of funding for soil health (and “climate-smart agriculture”) in USDA’s conservation programs. We will continue this effort by supporting the addition of this funding in any viable legislative vehicle that emerges in the coming months.
Stay tuned as we further develop our policy objectives & principles, or reach out to collaborate.
A Few Updates in Congress & at USDA:
Farm Bill (Related) Hearing: House Ag Committee held a Jan 20 hearing "To Review the State of the Rural Economy with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack"
Farm Bill on the Horizon: Congress is gearing up for the 2023 Farm Bill
New EQIP soil health initiative: USDA seeks to double cover crop acres by 2030, including through new EQIP cover crop initiative, being piloted in 11 states
Climate-Smart Ag & Forestry Strategy: USDA expecting to spend $1 billion to develop climate-smart agricultural commodities; Land Core provided public comment on development of CSAF strategy
EQIP Conservation Incentive Contracts available nationwide: USDA now offering producers across the country annual incentive payments to implement management practices as well as conservation evaluation and monitoring activities
Ag Provisions from Build Back Better Act: Congress considering pulling out climate-smart ag provisions and moving them as a separate package
Risk Model Network News
Congratulations to Dr. David Lobell, Professor of Earth System Science at Stanford University & Advisor to the Land Core Risk Model, for being awarded the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) 2022 NAS Prize in Food & Agriculture Sciences, for his groundbreaking research on the effects of climate variability and change on global crop productivity. We’re thrilled to see Lobell’s Lab recognized for the innovative use of remote sensing, statistics, ecosystem modeling and agronomy, and are grateful for his generous support of our risk modeling work.
CIBO Technologies is launching Carbon Bridge, a program designed to provide upfront payments and technical assistance for farmers to start the transition to regenerative farming. We’re pleased to see new programs working to de-risk regenerative practice adoption. The program is currently limited to corn and soybean acres, and it is accepting enrollment candidates through February for this calendar year. Enroll now.
Jenette Ashtekar, VP of Sustainability and Regeneration, CiBO Technologies, Inc. is a member of the Land Core Risk Model Working Group.
Photo courtesy of NRCS
*Photo by Steven Weeks on Unsplash
From thoughts to leadership: making the leap in regenerative agriculture
This January 17 article by Jayce Hafner, FarmRaise, covers models linking the cost of capital to soil health, including Land Core & Compeer’s soil health risk model, as well as EDF & FBN’s new Regenerative Agriculture Finance Fund, among others.
What We're Reading
Nationwide study will examine the effects of regenerative agriculture
Nonprofit the Ecdysis Foundation is launching the 1,000 Farm Initiative to study key agronomic, ecological & economic outcomes on 1,000 farms across the United States’ 10 ecoregions, with an aim of providing road maps for successful transitioning to regenerative systems. Learn more.
January 19, 2022 | By: Dan Gunderson, MPR News
Land to Market, the World's First Verified Sourcing Solution for Regenerative Agriculture, Surpasses More Than 2.5 Million Acres of Land Monitored
More than 70 brands, including Burberry, Timberland and Applegate, are joining with Land to Market to bring verified regenerative products to market.
January 11, 2022 | PRNewswire
Why these 15 funds could transform agriculture
Overview of funds investing in the transition to regenerative agriculture.
Updated January 2022 | By: Koen van Seijen, Investing in Regenerative Agriculture
Regenerative Ranching Is Better for the Environment, but Can It Be Profitable?
Texan rancher Meredith Ellis highlights financial advantages: “A lot of the regenerative practices we’ve adopted keep us more drought- and flood-resistant.” That may increase profit margins, Ellis argues, as does not having to pay for huge amounts of fertilizer.
January 10, 2022 | By: Dina Gachma, Texas Monthly
Globally, Regen Earth Verified™ aims to support the transition of 10 million square kilometers of farmland to regenerative by 2027
Regen ag verification solution launches into consumer and trade market.
January 13, 2022 | PRNewswire
New loan fund incentivizes farmers to adopt regenerative practices
EDF & FBN launch new farm operating loan with lower interest rate for producers who achieve certain climate change and water quality benchmarks. Sign up for the Feb 3 webinar to learn more!
January 12, 2022 | By: Steve Davies, Agri-Pulse
Regenerative gardening helps save the planet one garden at a time
“Regenerative gardening is founded on the principle that if we take care of our soils then everything else will work out for the best.”
January 14, 2022 | By: Steve Smith
Get Involved
🌾 Donate to Land Core! Support our programs to advance soil health in 2022.
🌾 Join our Bill Tracker Community: We share monthly e-reports on federal soil health legislation in Congress, & other updates from our federal bill tracker!
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