**Photo by** **Francesco Gallarotti** on Unsplash

Dear friends and colleagues,

The year is back in full swing here for the Land Core team as we set our sights on new opportunities within the current administration to advance soil health practices, programs, and policies. We’ve been closely following cabinet nomination hearings and recent confirmations, preparing outreach to new appointees and stakeholders who share our mission of creating value for farmers, businesses, and communities.

Additional priorities for our work right now include updating the Risk Model Tool. We are in the process of expanding it from one state to five, so stay tuned! We are also collaborating with new funders and partners to leverage 45z tax incentives (funding low carbon biofuels) to incorporate more ground truth data into our research, as well as connecting with more farmers and other stakeholders to ensure the solutions we advance better meet the needs of farmers and businesses.

Read on for more updates and opportunities.

Warmly,

The Land Core Team

2024 Year In Review

Despite the difficulties posed by further delays to the Farm Bill, Land Core was able to actively build understanding, awareness and enthusiasm for the need to invest in soil health in Congress and across five federal agencies.

We also continued with the successful development of the Land Core Risk Model tool that will provide farmers, financial stakeholders and government, with information to evaluate the economic benefits of better soil health practices, and to better quantify on farm resilience.

Please see our Year In Review 2024 Report for a detailed layout of our work and impact last year.

Hiring Announcement

We’re hiring! Land Core is looking for talented individuals for both a full-time Policy Manager and a part-time Operations & Finance Consultant. Please go to www.landcore.org/hiring for details.

Policy Updates

While news from Washington, D.C., is coming thick and fast, with a great deal of change and uncertainty, we remain committed to our focus on soil health - a pragmatic, common-ground issue. We are also here to support farmers and organizations with up-to-date, grounded information and recommendations. Please get in touch if we can be helpful.

Farm Bill & New Congress Updates

Brooke Rollins sails through Senate Ag confirmation hearing to final vote on Senate floor.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s positioned to be approved to run the $1.7 trillion U.S. Health and Human Services agency with confirmation likely Thursday February 13th.
Farmers look to increase disaster aid to brace for reverberations from tariffs.
With the flurry of activity and federal funding freeze in the first weeks of the new administration, bipartisan negotiations on the Farm Bill may be in peril. The Senate Ag committee picked up discussions at the February 5th meeting hearing from farmers across the country that share similar stories of economic hardship urging lawmakers to pass the legislation this year. In all likelihood, farm bill talks won’t resume until May or early this summer.
Current USDA funding freezes are causing upheaval for some farmers as the uncertainty of when payments will resume threaten economic recovery in the near term. In particular, the $3.1 billion Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities and major conservation dollars funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, are in question with many farmers on the hook for investments already made under these programs.

Bill Tracker

We are actively screening new bills introduced in the 119th Congress and will be updating them to the Bill Tracker as soon as all details become available.

Our focus in 2025 will be primarily tracking bills related to soil health, but also include conservation, crop insurance and risk reduction, finance, biofuels, human health, measurement and monitoring of soil health metrics, and animal/livestock integration.

Stay up to date with our Bill Tracker Alerts, that you can sign up for here.

Catch Us In Person

Natural Products Expo West 2025 - March 4, 2025 - | Anaheim, CA. Aria McLauchlan is moderating the panel, “Emerging Policy Opportunities in 2025 & Beyond”, with panelists Britt Lundgren, Stonyfield Farms, Matthew Dillon, Organic Trade Association, and T.A. Hawks, Monument Advocacy.

Policy serves as a critical lever for accelerating climate action, yet political flux can pose significant challenges. In this session, join industry leaders as they discuss their strategies for 2025 to navigate and leverage policy work to advance climate and other advocacy priorities.

Agri-pulse Ag & Food Policy Summit - March 17, 2025, | Washington, DC"Navigating Taxes, Trade and Technology: What's Ahead for Food & Agriculture”.

Aria McLauchlan will attend this event, which aims to inform the public about food and agriculture policy decisions. The summit also explores ways to improve rural revenues and support farmers, ranchers, and consumers.

Upcoming Events

Below you will find a selection of upcoming gatherings related to agriculture and soil health on our radar.

Marbleseed’s 36th Organic Farming Conference - Feb 20-22, 2025, | La Crosse, WI

The largest organic farming conference in the US featuring organic and regenerative farmers from farms of all sizes to learn the newest and most innovative and effective farming methods in the organic industry. Choose from dozens of transformative, skill-building workshops and roundtables covering business management, soil health, and production that are crafted to advance resilient organic farms and regenerative food systems.

2025 Midwest Grazing and Soil Health Summit - March 19-20, 2025, | Wilmur, MN

The event is designed to educate farmers and ranchers on how to integrate grazing practices with soil health management, highlighting the connection between livestock and soil quality to create a regenerative farming system, ultimately aiming to improve the sustainability and profitability of their operations in the Midwest region by exploring topics like virtual fencing, winter grazing, and small ruminants.

Regenerative Agriculture and Food Systems Summit - March 25-27, 2025, | Chicago, IL

Agriculture lies at the heart of our society. It plays a critical role in shaping our environment and social landscapes. Yet, it faces unprecedented challenges that will require the collective engagement of all stakeholders to overcome. Regenerative agriculture offers a holistic solution that restores ecosystems, improves soil health, and enhances biodiversity, building a more abundant and resilient agricultural system for generations to come.

Funding Opportunities

Restore Grants - Zero Footprint - Deadline to apply February 19th, 2025

Restore Grant applications are open for another two days Farmers and ranchers in CA, CO, OR and WA can receive up to $25k to implement soil health-building practices. Award decisions will be sent by late March, 2025.

USDA-NRCS Funding Opportunities for FY 2025

Those interested should apply to their local USDA NRCS Field Office (found at https://www.nrcs.usda.gov), or see link above for more information. The last deadline for FY25 is March 1, 2025. (We suggest that potential applicants monitor the federal funding freezes that are impacting some NRCS programs, and speak with both local NRCS offices and their federal representatives to help inform an appropriate course of action.)

What We're Reading

Trump administration to release avian flu plan, shift away from depopulating farms -By Philip Brasher, Agri-pulse - February 16, 2025

Mass firings strike USDA across agencies, including field staff - By Philip Brasher, Noah Wicks, Steve Davies, and Lydia Johnson, Agri-Pulse - February 14, 2025

Trump’s Funding Freeze Creates Chaos and Financial Distress for Farmers - By Lisa Held, Civil Eats - February 11, 2025

Edacious raises $8.1m to ‘break the cycle of commoditization’ by measuring nutrient density in whole foods - By Elaine Watson, Ag Funder - February 6, 2025

Launching healthy soil practices for the farm’s next generation - By John Krone, Farm Progress - February 5, 2025

Trump’s tariffs likely to face legal challenges but critics face an uphill climb - By Oliver Ward, Agripulse - February 3, 2025

RFK Jr. says he wants to help farmers move to regenerative agriculture - By Steve Davies and Rebekah Alvey, Agri-Pulse - January 29, 2025

Soil: The World At Our Feet review-microbes, mushrooms, and the sound of cactus drinking - By Laura Cumming, The Guardian - January 26, 2025

USDA Publishes Interim Rule on Technical Guidelines for Climate-Smart Agriculture Crops Used as Biofuel Feedstocks - USDA.gov Press Release, January 15, 2025