Land Core Newsletter - April 2022
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
As spring arrives in full swing, farmers are working hard to get seeds in the ground — against supply chain disruptions, extreme weather impacts, and record high input costs, tied to record global fuel prices.
These are clear signs that the long-term solution to restoring farmer independence and resilience, and thus our nation’s food supply, lies in the rapid transition to a regenerative agriculture system.
The 2023 Farm Bill represents a critical opportunity for our leaders to incentivize this shift, giving our farmers and ranchers the tools to address a range of urgent issues, while building stability at home and abroad.
Read more here in our latest memo.
Best,
Harley Cross
Director of Strategy, Land Core
Policy News & Updates
Land Core Submits Joint FY 2023 Appropriations Request
Each year, Congress approves billions in discretionary funding for farm and food programs through the annual appropriations process. Alongside several organizations, we submitted requests for a budget that advances soil health and regenerative agriculture, by expanding vital education, technical service and implementation assistance for producers adopting soil health practices; increasing equitable opportunity and access to all USDA programs; and advancing local and regional infrastructure and markets to increase access to healthy, regionally sourced food.
These investments will not only avert imminent food supply and insecurity issues, but also reverse soil degradation, safeguard food security, farm profitability and productivity, revive rural communities, and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Hearing Witness Mr. Glen Chown highlights the popularity of ACEP and RCPP programs, citing awareness of numerous projects in several states that could have conserved more than 130,000 acres of working lands while leveraging at least $80 million in matching funds.
Senate Hearing: Growing Jobs and Economic Opportunity: 2023 Farm Bill Perspectives from Michigan
Senate Ag Committee listening for the Farm Bill is underway with the first full committee hearing taking place this past Friday in Lansing, MI. We heard about key issues facing farmers, from input costs to erratic weather. Witnesses called for strengthening the farm safety net, improving farm bill programs from the commodities programs to crop insurance, raising limits on FSA loans and better serving young and beginning farmers, and ramping up conservation programs and technical assistance in the face of climate change. Several commended extension services at land grant universities and conservation districts for supporting farmers in implementing new conservation practices. Committee members vowed to take a bipartisan approach in writing the upcoming farm bill.
New Report: Regenerative Agriculture: Farm Policy for the 21st Century
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) published its Regenerative Agriculture: Farm Policy for the 21st Century report earlier this month. The report, which was peer reviewed by Aria McLauchlan of Land Core, lays out the vision for a regenerative agriculture system in the United States, detailing its multiple benefits - from building soil health, to sequestering carbon, and making land and communities more resilient to climate change. Drawing on interviews of over 100 farmers from 47 states and DC, the report provides policy recommendations on how lawmakers can transition the nation’s agricultural system in the lead up to the 2023 Farm Bill.
Speaking, Podcasts & Events
Land Core Presents Iowa Learning Farms Webinar: New Models To Quantify Value Gained From Soil Health Practices
On April 27, Aria and Harley presented to the Iowa Learning Farms community about building a foundation for monetizing soil health practices through insurance and lending (via Iowa State University Extension and Outreach). We were grateful to have such a receptive and diverse audience (including farmers, extension, and policymakers), and encouraged to see so much interest in creative ways to address risk reduction in agriculture.
"The path to positive policy: making the case for a more regenerative farm bill”: Down to Earth Podcast
For the US to have a resilient and regional food system at a large scale will require changes in national policy. In the latest episode of the Quivira Coalition’s Down to Earth Podcast, Land Core's Aria McLauchlan and Harley Cross talk about the Farm Bill––a piece of legislation which most people know little about, but which invests $856 billion which deeply affects all of our lives––and how the upcoming 2023 Farm Bill could help to shift toward regenerative farming practices and the many benefits that flow from them.
“How Healthy Soil Mitigates Risk” O44 Podcast
In this third part in a series of conservations on regenerative ag and soil health, Aria and Harley join Carrie Dorr to talk about the status of our soil health, what that means for farmers and consumers, how to mitigate risk in agriculture, the Land Core is doing, how we can take action at home and in our communities.
Upcoming Opportunity to Connect: Women Leading Regeneration Summit
Our Programs Manager, Katie Fettes, will be leading a breakout discussion for the Women of the Water Panel, 2:10-3:10PM MT on Wednesday, May 4. In its fourth year, the Women Leading Regeneration Online Summit is a 3-day online summit centering feminine leadership as a key to planetary health.
What We're Reading & Watching
Policy & Economy:
Major Farm Finance Database Includes Preliminary Data on Cover Crop Economics
April 20, 2022 | Environmental Defense Fund
Expert Blog: Pathways to Regenerative Agriculture
April 21, 2022 | Natural Resources Defense Council
A bipartisan push to lower food costs by protecting American farmers
April 7, 2022 | By: Reps. Frank Lucas (R-OK) & Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), The Hill
Payments for Pollution: How federal conservation programs can better benefit farmers and the environment
April 14, 2022 | Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy (IATP)
Food, ag in focus on the Hill
April 25, 2022 | By: Ximena Bustillo, Politico
Soil Science:
Impact of Agricultural Inputs on Soil Health: Assessing Farmer Interest
April 8, 2022 | Soil Health Institute
Cover crops more effective than insecticides for managing pests, study suggests
March 31, 2022 | Penn State Agricultural Sciences
New Soil Health Institute Study Provides Insights Into the Role Soil Organic Carbon Can Play in Improving Soil Health and Reducing Drought
April 28, 2022 | CSRWire (see also via Soil Health Institute)
A perennial grass could mitigate climate change in the Midwest
April 14, 2022 | National Science Foundation
Clusters of weather extremes will increase risks to corn crops, society
April 27, 2022 | Carol Rasmussen, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA
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