Land Core 2025 Year in Review
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Without a doubt, 2025 will be one for the record books—bringing enormous changes, from the scope and scale of government policies impacting farmers to the emergence of soil health as a focus at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as well as regenerative agriculture becoming more widely recognized and incorporated into USDA conservation initiatives. Between shifting trade dynamics, the growth of Food as Medicine initiatives, and the release of several groundbreaking studies on the economic benefits of soil health, it was a pivotal year.
Amidst all of this change, Land Core has been working tirelessly to ensure we have champions at every level, from the farm to the White House, and from boardrooms to classrooms. We remain committed to moving soil health forward as a core issue for all stakeholders.
This year, we expanded our policy work beyond traditional agriculture-focused federal agencies to include HHS, supporting the case that healthy soils are foundational to human health and educating policymakers on key ways to advance this focus in federal procurement, research, dietary guidelines, and more.
While the landscape is shifting, our collective impact continues to grow. Soil health gained significant recognition across the political spectrum, with 194 soil health-related bills introduced in the 119th Congress, the majority of which were bipartisan.
On the research front, our Risk Model team achieved a major milestone this year: demonstrating that diversified crop rotations reduce yield risk by 5-10% with no yield losses across five Midwest states. We are expanding our geographic coverage this year, and hope these findings will help underwrite financial incentives that reward farmers for building resilient soils. We're seeing growing interest from lenders, insurers, and investors who are recognizing that good soil helps ensure good business, and we're proud to be leading the charge.
We also developed the first field-level dataset detecting cover crops that will be fully available to academics, nonprofits, and policymakers soon.
From Capitol Hill to conference stages, we continue to share our research on soil health’s risk-reducing potential with diverse audiences, building the coalitions needed to translate research into policy and practice.
None of this would be possible without the farmers and ranchers who steward the land with care and foresight, and without our partners, funders, and research collaborators who share a vision of a resilient agricultural system built on healthy soils.
As we look to 2026, we see a policy landscape full of new challenges and opportunities. We're deeply grateful to all of you who have been on this journey with us. Together, we're fully committed to building on last year's momentum and continuing this important work. Read on for a closer look at what we accomplished together this year.
With gratitude,
Aria McLauchlan & Harley Cross
Co-Founders, Land Core
Join us in 2026:
Support our efforts to integrate soil health into critical federal policy decisions at USDA, HHS, and other federal agencies. We’ll work to advance a Farm Bill reauthorization, the FY27 appropriations process, and any other key legislative vehicles, shaping the programs that determine the future of American agriculture.
Collaborate with us as we bring our Risk Model Tool to new stakeholders, crops, and regions, continuing our research to pilot "Good Soil Discount" programs that reward farmers for building resilient soils with financial institutions, insurance companies, and government agencies.
Amplify our mission by engaging with our science-based resources, connecting with soil health champions in your networks, and helping build the broad-based movement needed to transform how America farms.
Your donations and ongoing support have been instrumental in making this work possible, and we're incredibly grateful to each and every one of you. We invite you to continue on this journey with us by making a tax-deductible donation to Land Core today.
Together, we can help farmers improve their livelihoods, revive rural communities, become more resilient to floods and drought, restore biodiversity, and improve the health of our waterways and the food we eat.