Dear friends and colleagues,
This quarter’s update is a short one. Congress spent most of the period away from Washington, first for the August recess and then for the pre-election break. The Senate has worked in just four of the last 12 weeks, and the House only two after Speaker Johnson canceled the last two weeks of the September session and sent members home until after the midterms.
Read MoreDear friends and colleagues,
This month, we’re excited to share meaningful progress on our risk modeling research. In addition to rotational diversity, we've completed modeling for cover crops and reduced tillage across our nine-state region. This work brings us one step closer to rewarding farmers for their soil health practices. By giving lenders, insurers, and government programs a tool to measure how these practices reduce risk, we can help them pass savings on to these farmers.
Read MoreDear friends & colleagues,
Harvest is underway across the Midwest as farmers weigh tight margins, weather predictions, and plan for next season. September brought movement on several policy fronts: the Senate Farm Bill finally cleared the Agriculture Committee, Congress averted an October 1 shutdown, and the upcoming midterms are set to reshape Ag Committee leadership. We break it all down below.
Read MoreDear friends & colleagues,
It's late summer, and across the U.S. farmers are deep into harvest decisions, watching weather, markets, and input costs closely. In Washington, agriculture policy had its own late-summer churn: the Farm Bill hit a real setback this month, not advancing from the Senate Ag Committee, and federal regulators spent much of August responding to a food system visibly under strain. We break it all down below.
Read MoreSoil health, storytelling, and summer inspiration from the Land Core team!
It’s been a big summer for farm policy and farm stories alike. The Senate is still working through its version of the farm bill after the House version cleared committee back in the spring, farm bankruptcies recently hit a six-year high, and tumultuous weather and trade environments have put many farmers in a difficult financial position.
Read MoreDear friends & colleagues,
It's been a busy month at Land Core and in the agriculture policy world. We submitted comments to BLM on their proposed grazing rule changes, and while we support certain elements, including increased flexibility for producers, we also advocate that any rule changes be tied to an outcomes-based, regenerative management framework. We also published our analysis of the Senate Farm Bill and its potential impact on soil health, and sent our quarterly Bill Tracker Alert, which breaks down newly introduced and reintroduced bills, movement on tracked legislation, and other highlights from this quarter, that could affect soil health.
Read MoreOn June 23, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) released a discussion draft* of the Agriculture Act of 2026, following the passage of the House farm bill (the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026) in April. Chairman Boozman has said a markup of the bill will occur before the Senate breaks for its August recess, but it has yet to be scheduled in the midst of the ongoing budget debate and the continued absence of Senator Mitch McConnell, a key vote on the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Read MoreAmerican agriculture is under real financial strain. Farm bankruptcies are up 46% since 2024. The country lost 15,000 farms in 2025. And average annual crop insurance indemnities more than doubled between 2015 and 2024, climbing from $6.7 billion to $14 billion.
These numbers point to an agricultural system under growing pressure, one where producers are absorbing more risk each year, and taxpayers are picking up more of the tab through federal crop insurance
Read MoreLand Core is supportive of well-managed grazing on public lands as complementary to, rather than opposed to, maintaining healthy grassland landscapes. Across the West and the nation, leading ranchers are using regenerative grazing of livestock as a way to increase the profitability of their operations and provide quality livelihoods, as well as to heal degraded soil, restore wildlife habitat, and replenish dried-up rivers. Regenerative grazing and soil health practices can help foster healthy, resilient landscapes and economic prosperity for the communities that depend on our public lands.
Read MoreDear friends and colleagues,
This quarter brought major movement on federal farm legislation with direct implications for soil health.
As most of you know, on April 30, the House passed its version of the 2026 Farm Bill, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (H.R. 7567). The Senate followed on June 23 with the release of a discussion draft of its Farm Bill, the Agricultural Act of 2026, ahead of an expected committee markup later this month. T
Read MoreDear friends & colleagues,
Summer is here, and so is a packed policy calendar. Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman (R-AR) has signaled that Farm Bill markup is expected between July 13 and August 7, meaning the next few weeks are critical for shaping what ends up in the bill. We're keeping a close eye on soil health provisions and working to ensure the momentum from the House side carries through. We're also continuing to push for inclusion of report language mirroring the SOIL HEALTH Practices Act in the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Bill, following its recent and exciting inclusion in the House Ag-Approps Committee Report for FY27.
Read MoreDear friends & colleagues,
This month brought a significant milestone for soil health and our top policy priority, and we're excited to share it with you!
Report language was included in the committee report (see pg. 55) accompanying the House Appropriations Committee's FY2027 Agriculture-FDA spending bill. It directs RMA to study the risk-reducing benefits of soil health practices, propose policy changes that acknowledge any risk reduction and develop appropriate incentives across commodity crop insurance policies.
Read MoreDear friends & colleagues,
Spring is a season of urgency, both on farms and in Washington. As soil temperatures climb and farmers finalize planting decisions, the pace of federal agriculture policy is quickening alongside them.
The Farm Bill does appear to be inching forward. House Republicans are preparing for a floor vote the week of April 27, and Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman signaled this week that Senate markup is now a matter of "weeks rather than months" away. While the road ahead is far from certain, the window for long-awaited updates to farm and soil health policy may finally be opening.
Read MoreThe House Farm Bill, called The Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, included 65 marker bills that Land Core tracked across its twelve titles. Titles II (Conservation) and VII (Research) had the largest share, with 18 marker bills each. In Title II, all but one marker bill had bipartisan support. Of the marker bills in Title II that Land Core tracks, 10 were core bills and 8 were secondary. Title VII had a broader mix of sponsorship, with 13 of 18 bipartisan marker bills. Of the bills in Title VII, 12 marker bills were core for soil health, while 6 were secondary. To see the full list of Land Core-tracked marker bills in the House Farm Bill, please see here.
Read MoreDear friends and colleagues,
Congress continued to introduce soil health-related legislation through the first quarter of the year, while also advancing several existing bills through committee and floor action. Notably, the House Agriculture Committee’s Farm Bill legislative text, released on February 13, included 65 bills that Land Core tracked as marker bills across the bill’s twelve titles. Bipartisan support for soil health legislation remains consistent, with conservation and research continuing to attract significant legislative activity.
Read MoreDear friends & colleagues,
Spring has a way of reminding us what's at stake and what's possible. As soil temperatures rise and planting decisions are made across millions of acres, we’re continuing our work to advance federal soil health policy and support farmers nationwide.
It’s been a busy month for agriculture policy. The House Agriculture Committee passed its version of the Farm Bill out of committee in early March with notable bipartisan support. In addition, agriculture appropriations requests are already being submitted for FY27.
Read MoreIn agriculture, financial survival depends not simply on harvest size, but on revenue: what a field produces, multiplied by what the market will actually pay for it. These two forces do not move independently, and in most Midwest counties, when local harvests are poor and supply tightens, prices tend to rise, offering farmers a partial natural cushion. Even so, commodity price swings contribute roughly three to four times more uncertainty to farm revenue than yield variability does, meaning that market risk, not weather, is the dominant threat to a farm's bottom line.
Read MoreThank you to everyone who signed on to the Letter of Support for the SOIL HEALTH Practices Act. We are grateful for the incredible response across the food and agriculture community. Signatories ranged from farmers and ranchers to food companies, insurance, finance, and ag-tech leaders, conservation groups, and farmer coalitions, representing the broad, cross-sector alliance that believes soil health policy is a cornerstone of a resilient agricultural future.
Read MoreLast week, Land Core submitted our official funding requests to the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Agriculture for FY27.
Across all of our work, we view soil health as a foundational component of agricultural productivity, resilience, and long-term profitability. Our appropriations priorities focus on select USDA agencies and programs that directly support the work farmers and ranchers do on their land, and which we believe are important targets for sustained investment.
Read MoreConnect with us at one of these upcoming events!
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