Researchers with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture are conducting research examining soil health practices and their impacts on crop risk insurance premiums and other financial factors often faced by farmers. Lawson Connor, an agriculture economist for the Division of Agriculture, is the primary investigator for Arkansas’ involvement in the research. He is joined by researchers from U.C. Berkley and Rice University.
Read MoreEver since the federal government created the Soil Conservation Service following the Dust Bowl, the correlation between soil health and agricultural resilience has been generally well understood. However, almost a century later, we’re still struggling to accurately quantify how specific soil health practices reduce production risks. As a result, these practices remain largely unaccounted for in risk pricing models across finance, investment and insurance, and farmers are not compensated through financial discounts for adopting them.
Read MoreExplore the archive of our bill tracker alerts, which provide regular updates on soil health legislation in Congress.
Read MoreWith the Farm Bill fast-approaching (and the FY24 Appropriations and Senate Ag Committee Farm Bill request deadlines just behind us), members of the 118th Congress have been hard at work introducing in the last few weeks.
Read MoreLand Core is pleased to provide input on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed Conservation and Landscape Health rule. Our comments elaborate on how and why the BLM might acknowledge and incentivize the opportunity to use the best standards for well-managed grazing for landscape restoration in partnership with ranchers, creating not only a win-win for the agency, ranchers, and national food security, but also a blueprint for the future of public-private partnerships in the pursuit of economically beneficial conservation.
Read MoreAs Summer heats up, we’re excited about all of the opportunities (see below) emerging to further the mission of expanding the scope and scale of soil health-focused agriculture in the US. We hope you will join us in raising awareness and sharing the momentum building in the lead up to the Farm Bill!
Read MoreWe are thrilled to announce that the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) is awarding a $715,611 Seeding Solutions grant to Land Core to create an unprecedented market-based, actuarially-sound model that can determine the risk-mitigation benefits and related cost savings associated with specific soil health practices. Family foundations are providing matching funds for a total $1,449,611 investment. The model is helping to create the economic rationale for agricultural lenders and insurers to offer financial incentives, such as better terms or lower loan rates and insurance prices to producers adopting good soil health practices.
Read MoreToday, Land Core, along with a diverse group of 170 farms, businesses, and organizations, submitted a letter to Congressional Agriculture Committee leadership in support of the DEFER Act and its inclusion in the 2023 Farm Bill.
Read MoreSign on deadline for the DEFER Act (one of our top Farm Bill priorities) extended to Monday, June 5 - join over 155 farming groups, businesses, and nonprofit orgs in supporting access to credit for conservation. Sign (or share) the letter of support! Read on for more updates, hiring opportunities, educational events and more.
Read MoreWe’ve had a busy and very successful spring so far, and it’s only just getting started! We are happy to report that several of the policies that we’ve helped shape over the last year have been included as priorities for the 2023 Farm Bill by members of the Senate Ag committee. Read on for sign on letters, updates on additional policies, job opportunities, and more.
Read MoreAs lawmakers consider the array of new federal policies, programs, and incentives aimed at facilitating these new efficiency-focused technologies, we must address a crucial concern regarding the potential conflation of “economic efficiency” and “conservation efficiency”.
Read MoreAttention, soil health enthusiasts, farmers, and food and ag policy pros! Land Core, a pioneering non-profit committed to advancing soil health policies and programs in the US, is excited to unveil a transformative upgrade to their Federal Soil Health Bill Tracker. With a focus on making policy information more accessible to all, this user-friendly, dynamic web-based tool brings federal soil health policy to life.
Read MoreWith the Farm Bill fast-approaching (and the FY24 Appropriations and Senate Ag Committee Farm Bill request deadlines just behind us), members of the 118th Congress have been hard at work introducing in the last few weeks. We have added over 40 bills to our Bill Tracker that would impact soil health and resilience, and will be adding more in the coming weeks.
Read MoreLand Core submitted a request to Congress to invest in soil health and resilient agriculture through the FY 2024 appropriations process, in which Congress annually approves billions in discretionary funding for farm and food programs.
Read MoreFebruary was a big month for Land Core, with new team members, new updates to the Land Core Bill Tracker, and some wonderful new funding partners! Read on for details.
Read MoreThis edition of our newsletter includes some good news to start the year from a new report, a big design update to our soil health bill tracker, policy news and calls to action as we enter a farm bill year, your regular list of soil health reading materials, and more!
Read MoreIn the past year, we expanded our staff and modeling team members, and deepened our influence in exciting and impactful ways, shaping both the actions and narratives that have focused soil health as being at the center of an independent, resilient agricultural economy.
Thank you for supporting our work in 2022. Here you’ll find a few highlights of what we’ve accomplished together this year!
Read MoreToday, Land Core, in partnership with Kiss the Ground and 152 other farms, organizations, and businesses, advocated for the USDA-NRCS funding of the Inflation Reduction Act to back regenerative agriculture. “Advance Regenerative Agriculture through the Inflation Reduction Act, Document Number 2022-25292.”
Read MoreOn September 13, 2022, our Executive Director, Aria McLauchlan, and our Director of Strategy, Harley Cross, participated in a roundtable on "Creating Regenerative Opportunity for Ag Lenders" as part of Green America’s Soil & Climate Alliance (SCA) Virtual “Financing Regenerative Transitions” Roundtable Series. Watch the recording now!
Read MoreA big thanks to each of you who supported our work on Giving Tuesday. Your support and encouragement is incredibly meaningful and helpful to us as a relatively small organization, and together, we’ve had a huge year helping to push the soil health movement forward. Wishing you well as many of us gather for the winter farm conference season.
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