{"id":13927,"date":"2020-09-01T10:45:40","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T17:45:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calcanstaging.kinsta.cloud\/?p=13927"},"modified":"2020-09-01T10:59:28","modified_gmt":"2020-09-01T17:59:28","slug":"federal-support-for-states-and-tribes-building-climate-resilience-through-soil-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calclimateag.org\/es\/federal-support-for-states-and-tribes-building-climate-resilience-through-soil-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal Support for States and Tribes Building Climate Resilience Through Soil Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

This blog is reposted from the\u00a0National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC)<\/a>, of which CalCAN is a member. NSAC advocates for federal policy reform for the sustainability of food systems, natural resources, and rural communities. See the original post\u00a0aqu\u00ed<\/a>. <\/em>Editor\u2019s Note: This is the sixth blog in a series focusing on specific provisions included in the Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA) introduced by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) in February 2020. The ARA represents the first comprehensive piece of legislation introduced in the House of Representatives addressing climate change and agriculture. Read blogs\u00a0<\/em>one<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>two<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>three<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>four<\/em><\/a>, y\u00a0<\/em>five<\/em><\/a>\u00a0here.<\/em><\/p>\n

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This sixth blog focuses on a new soil health block grant program that the bill would create, and it was co-authored by Duane Hovorka, Agriculture Program Director for the Izaak Walton League of America, and Cristel Zoebisch, Climate Policy Associate at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition in partnership with the Organic Farming Research Foundation.<\/em><\/p>\n

Farmers and ranchers are already feeling the impacts of the climate crisis, as they deal with more erratic and severe weather events that affect their bottom lines. Farmers and ranchers are uniquely positioned to address these threats to their viability by improving the health of their soils by implementing climate stewardship practices, helping enhance their operations\u2019 resilience to the impacts of a changing climate.<\/p>\n

Collectively, farmers and ranchers working to restore and maintain soil health can also significantly contribute to our nation\u2019s climate mitigation efforts by using soil health practices to reduce carbon emissions and store large amounts of atmospheric carbon in the soil. Soil health management practices and systems can create carbon sinks, increase water holding capacity, and improve recycling of nitrogen by crops, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions while protecting our ability to feed a growing population.<\/p>\n

En\u00a0Agriculture Resilience Act<\/a>\u00a0(ARA) recognizes the importance of soil health and encourages farmers and ranchers to pull carbon out of the air and into their soils. The ARA acknowledges soil health as a foundational building block for agriculture to reach its climate-mitigating potential. As such, the bill includes specific soil health goals and an entire title outlining legislative changes and proposals to support widespread adoption of climate stewardship practices that also build soil health.<\/p>\n

The ARA sets three soil health goals for the U.S.:<\/p>\n

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  1. Become a member of the\u00a04 per 1000 Initiative\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0forum and consortium with the aim of increasing total soil carbon stocks by 0.4 percent annually<\/li>\n
  2. Expand adoption of soil health practices to restore at least half of lost soil carbon by 2040<\/li>\n
  3. Maintain year-round cover on at least 75 percent of cropland acres by 2040<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Research has already identified the tools to build soil health through diverse crop rotations, cover crops, conservation tillage, perennialization of highly erodible land, agroforestry, composting, Integrated Pest Management, biologically-based nutrient management, organic agriculture, and advanced grazing management. The ARA provides financial and technical assistance to help farmers and ranchers implement these soil health practices, increasing profitability and making farming operations more resilient to climate stresses.<\/p>\n

    In addition to the increased investment and expansion of\u00a0working lands conservation programs<\/a>, the ARA includes a provision to support state-level soil health efforts through a new block grant program. This provision was one of many ARA provisions recommended in the report published by the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis at the end of June. See our\u00a0resumen<\/a>\u00a0on the agriculture chapter of the report, which highlights all of the ARA provisions included in the report.<\/p>\n

    Grants to States and Tribes to Promote Soil Health<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    The bill would provide funds to help state and Tribal governments build on their existing soil health programs. A state or Tribe with a funded soil health program could seek an annual grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to be used for:<\/p>\n