Land Core Newsletter - December 2018

Dear friends and colleagues,

We've been super busy here as you might imagine! As most of you know, the Farm Bill finally passed last week when we were in DC for meetings. While there's always more work to be done, from our perspective, it's a reasonable bill with some real wins for soil health.

We wanted to give you the news that although our amendment (to create an Outcomes-Verified Program) did not make it into the Farm Bill, the "Soil Health Demonstration Pilot Project" that we were also championing did get through... and we have a lot of support to get our language added down the line. Thank you and congratulations to all of you who signed our letter of support for the Wyden bill. It was by no means a guaranteed outcome and we're grateful to you all. (Please reach out if you'd like more details.)

During this last DC trip, we met with over 25 Ag Committee members in the House & Senate! We're very pleased with the level of receptivity and engagement on this issue and are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead in the 116th Congress. We'll also be working with USDA-NRCS and members on the implementation of soil health legislation, as well as on the annual appropriations process.

In addition to our DC work, we're very excited about our first big, non-policy program that we'll share with you in early 2019...

Speaking of 2019 - Land Core will officially be a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, which means it will be easier than ever to support the policy and program work that's essential to the success of our collective mission! Together we can create the missing infrastructure and economic incentives that will make the rapid adoption and scalability of regenerative soil health possible.

With much gratitude and hope, and our best wishes for the holiday season.

Aria & Harley

P.S. You can read more Farm Bill highlights in this round-up from our friends at National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC).