As the holiday season kicks off, we are reminded of how thankful we are to be able to do this work and to do it alongside such a remarkable community of friends, farmers and colleagues. As a relatively small organization, your presence here is incredibly meaningful to us and your support has been critical in advancing our mission and goals.
Read MoreFall may be winding down but there’s been no shortage of activity here at Land Core. This past month has been full of policy and educational work, including a trip to DC to meet with policymakers to discuss ways to support the expansion of soil health in the upcoming farm bill, and to share, for the first time, our promising, preliminary findings from the risk model!
Read MoreThe Land Core Risk Model is quantifying the economic risk-mitigation value of specific soil health practices by examining the correlation between the implementation of these practices over time and their impact on yield.
Read MoreDespite the August recess, we still added 30 “Core” soil health marker bills to the Bill Tracker and dozens more “Secondary” bills.
Read MorePilot programs are exploring the opportunity to offer farmers improved financing terms based on their adoption of regenerative agriculture. The goal is to bring an expanded scale via financial incentives structured differently than dollars per acre for adoption.
Read MoreAs the fall season kicks off, we’re happy to share an update from the annual Regenerative Food Systems Investment Forum in Denver, CO, where a network of investors, philanthropists, farmers, “capital activators” and NGO support groups gathered to discuss and advance new flows of capital to support producers in adopting soil health practices and advancing more resilient or regenerative agricultural systems.
Read MoreWe hope you all had a great summer! The Land Core team, as well as our risk model partners, have been working hard on a number of items. This past month has seen a lot of press and some exciting new developments with the risk model tool, as well as a huge influx of new bills introduced in the 118th Congress hoping to make it into the Farm Bill. We have a fantastic new Land Core team member that we are excited to introduce to you, as well as two postdoctoral research associate positions that we are still looking to fill as we continue to grow our work. Read on to learn more!
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 commends the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for proposing a framework for measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification (MMRV) of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the agriculture and forest sectors.
Read MoreInsurers offer discounts for avoiding smoking and good driving because these practices are proven to mitigate risk and save them money. So should insurers and agricultural lenders offer farmers that look after their soil a ‘good soil discount’?
Read MoreIt has been another month of major activity here at Land Core. We have seen nearly 40 bills introduced this month that we are in the process of adding to our Soil Health Bill Tracker, we have begun expanding our work with Schmidt Center for Data Science and the Environment (DSE), and we have more truly excellent news on the Land Core Risk Model. So without further ado, enjoy this joyful update for July!
Read MoreResearchers 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.
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