Soil Health: the Land Core Approach to Climate Mitigation

In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Agricultural and Natural Resource Economist Jeff Schahczenski talks with Aria McLauchlan and Harley Cross about how to measure the impact that soil health practices can have in migrating the impacts of weather and climate disruption.

Aria and Harley are co-founders of Land Core, a non-profit organization advancing soil health policies and programs that create value for farmers, businesses, and communities. Land Core guided the successful passage of language supporting soil health at the USDA in both the House and Senate in 2019 and built a broad coalition that helped secure more than $50 million in federal investment for soil health in the 2018 Farm Bill.

Aria is Land Core's executive director, and she previously spent a decade working in communications, business development, and marketing. Harley is a serial entrepreneur with a background in food manufacturing, supply chains, and brand management. They live in Grass Valley in northern California.

NCAT Soil for Water Project
NCAT is scaling up its Soil for Water project to include livestock producers and farmers across eight states.

Soil for Water supports a network of farmers and ranchers who are taking steps to catch and hold more water in the soil through land management practices that improve soil health, reduce erosion, sustain diverse plant and animal life, and filter out pollutants.

The project grew out of persistent droughts, which are straining agricultural producers across the country. It combines the use of appropriate technology, peer-to-peer learning, and on-farm monitoring to encourage the adoption of regenerative agricultural practices.

The Soil for Water project is about building lasting infrastructure that will make farms, ranches and communities more resilient in the face of persistent drought and other natural disasters across the eight-state project region.

Learn more at soilforwater.org.

Related ATTRA Resources:

• Crop Insurance and Risk Management
• Soils and Compost
• Climate Disruptions, Agriculture and Crop Insurance: What are the Connections?
• Climate Change and Perennial Fruit and Nut Production: Investing in Resilience in Uncertain Times

Other Resources

• Land Core

Contact Jeff Schahczenski via email at jeffs@ncat.org.

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