Land Core Newsletter - June 2022
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
What a month it has been!
Land Core team members, Harley and Katie, traveled to DC to support the first Regenerate AmericaTM fly-in on June 15-16. We took some of the nation’s foremost soil health-focused farmers and coalition partners to meet with leading House and Senate Agriculture Committee members.
Since our last in-person visit to the Capitol in 2020, the understanding of soil health and its benefits has advanced profoundly. Real receptivity - and even what we view as significant leadership - coming from both sides of the aisle, is reinforcing our belief that soil health truly is an issue of common ground.
After seeing the breakdown of our food processing and supply chain systems during COVID, and now with skyrocketing farm input costs and ongoing supply disruptions as a result of the war in Ukraine - soil health and the infrastructure needed to support it is being looked at as a real long-term solution to address these crushing issues for farmers, families and our food system (reread our Food & Farmer Independence Memo detailing why these crises elevate the need for immediate changes in policy).
With the 2023 Farm Bill coming up fast, this is a truly unique moment for legislators to understand the importance and opportunity of regenerative, soil health centered agricultural systems, and take action.
We invite you all to join us in engaging with Congress in the coming months.
Take care,
The Land Core team
***
“I’m excited to be part of this process because it’s the first organization I’ve been part of recently to put the farmer first in terms of policy.” - Will Harris of White Oak Pastures in Georgia, Farmer Leadership Council Member
Pictured (left to right): Yadi Wang of Oatman Flats Ranch, Will Harris of White Oak Pastures, Dawn Breitkreutz of Stoney Creek Farm, and Harley Cross and Katie Fettes of Land Core in front of the U.S. Capitol.
"Regenerative agriculture has the potential to restore natural ecosystems and make positive impacts on the health of people, communities, and our planet. We must support farmers and ranchers in their efforts to build resilience on their land, regenerate the soil, and improve farm economics – all while creating access to healthy food for every American.” - Yadi Wang of Oatman Flats Ranch in Arizona, RA Farmer Leadership Council Member
Pictured (left to right): Dawn Breitkreutz, Yaadi Wang, and Will Harris, walking to a meeting on the Hill.
More Policy News
BIG WIN! - USDA’s Food System Transformation Framework:
On June 1, Secretary Vilsack announced USDA’s new framework for “shoring up the food supply chain and transforming the food system to be fairer, more competitive, and more resilient”.
(Rewatch the full announcement here).
The package represents a robust $2.1 billion investment across the supply chain, including $300 million for a new Organic Transition Initiative, $900 million for food supply chain infrastructure (including processing infrastructure & training), $155 million for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, $500 million to establish a national network of Food Business Centers to support local and regional food systems, and much more.
We are committed to working closely with USDA to ensure these funds are implemented swiftly and support farmers and ranchers across the nation in reducing inputs costs and increasing profitability, accessing new markets and growing nutritious food for our communities, while building soil health and restoring ecosystems.
2023 Farm Bill Hearings:
In addition to all of the activity in DC, members of the Agriculture Committees are hosting local hearings in their states. Senate Ag Committee leaders have already held field hearings, with Chairwoman Stabenow hosting in Michigan, and Ranking Member Boozman hosting in Arkansas. The House just held its first field hearing in Rep O’Halleran’s district in Arizona (where Yadi Wang, Regenerate America Farmer Leadership Council member, spoke).
These hearings are a great opportunity to speak directly with the lawmakers who will draft the upcoming Farm Bill. You can make a statement live or submit written testimony for the record. Upcoming sessions:
July 25 - House Ag Committee Hearing in Minnesota (details forthcoming)
White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health:
The upcoming Conference (the second ever, with the first held over 50 years ago) creates an opportunity for us to spotlight how soil health can improve food security, nutrition and human health, and underscore the need to advance regional food systems and markets for fresh, affordable and nutritious food while supporting producers to build soil health. Recommendations will likely inform provisions of the 2023 Farm Bill.
Here are some policy recommendations you might want to share, and two ways to do it:
Email your thoughts to policy@kisstheground.com by July 11 (subject line: White House Nutrition Conference) to be included in the Regenerate America coalition's comments
Risk Model Updates & Opportunities
Research & publishing: Our multidisciplinary risk modeling team is beginning to translate the modeling process and the early promising results into an academic paper. The team expects to have a manuscript published toward the end of the year, under the working title “A better bet for the farm: Building a predictive model to quantify the impact of soil health practices on production risks across a million fields in the Midwest”.
Expanding our product development team: We are so grateful to welcome product architect, Anna Zeman, and tech entrepreneur and CTO, Shaun Klopfenstein, who have begun contributing their expertise to product development and translating model outputs into a functional tool for lenders and insurers.
Farmer opportunity: We are currently expanding our Farmer Advisory Council, made up of soil health focused farmers from across the country, who are managing a wide variety of operations. This group helps ensure Land Core is getting consistent farmer feedback on all of our work, including the risk model. If you are an interested farmer or want to suggest someone apply, please get in touch or pass on our info!
In Case You Missed It
Watch the Recording: Aria McLauchlan Speaks at Harvard Belfer Center “Innovation, Investment and Policy in Regenerative Agriculture” Conference
We’re excited to share this recently released recording from the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center conference on “Innovation, Investment and Policy in Regenerative Agriculture”. Last month, our Executive Director, Aria McLauchlan, spoke on the "Policy and Investment in Regenerative Agriculture" panel, alongside an all-star line-up of thought leaders, innovators, soil health experts, policy makers, and financiers from all over the world to discuss goals, policies and opportunities for the rapid adoption of soil health and regenerative agriculture practices.
We were grateful to participate in this dialogue and to see historically influential spaces such as the Belfer Center beginning to recognize soil health and regenerative agriculture as a topic that deserves to be at the forefront of our national conversation.
What We're Reading
Fertilizer prices are soaring – and that’s an opportunity to promote more sustainable ways of growing crops
“I see an opportunity for the Biden administration to take a fresh look at biological products as substitutes for synthetic fertilizers.”
June 14, 2022 | By: Kathleen Merrigan, The Conversation
McCain Foods will begin using regenerative agriculture on potato farms
Company releases regenerative agriculture sourcing framework publicly for feedback and engagement.
June 15, 2022 | By: Hannah French, Nebraska TV
Landowners look for conservation
Farm managers say they’re seeing more landowners who want tenants with proven conservation records.
June 13, 2022 | By: Mike Downey, Farm Progress
House advances 2023 ag spending bill
"Politics may get in the way of advancing the 2023 appropriations package to the President’s desk."
June 23, 2022 | By: Jacqui Fatka, Farm Progress
Ag Bill Seeks to Tackle Inflation
House Package Allows E15 Sales Year-Round, Precision Ag Funding, Packer Investigator
June 16, 2022 | By: Chris Clayton, DTN Progressive Farmer
Introducing the Gardner Food and Agricultural Policy Survey
Initial results from survey on agricultural policies from the perspective of the taxpayer
June 2, 2022 | By: Maria Kalaitzandonakes and Jonathan Coppess, farmdoc DAILY
The Field Report: Tom Vilsack on How the USDA Can Transform the Food System
The Secretary of Agriculture talks about the agency’s priorities around nutrition security, climate action, and equity.
June 2, 2022 | By: Lisa Held, Civil Eats
A Wild, Windy Spring Is Creating a Soil Erosion Nightmare for Farmers
Dust storms fueled by tillage, and drought are causing the loss of tons of topsoil throughout the Great Plains.
June 6, 2022 | By: Virginia Gewin, Civil Eats
Farmer’s Footprint Profile: Salvatierra Farms
This long-form feature was a collaboration between A-dae Romero-Briones, Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin, and Farmer’s Footprint.
Farmer’s Footprint
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