EESI Joins in Support of USDA Soil Health Initiative - Key to Advancing More Sustainable Farming

Expanding participation by agricultural producers in conservation activities is key to making agriculture more productive, sustainable and resilient in the face of extreme weather and climate change. EESI joined in a letter to the head of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service commending his leadership in this soil health initiative.

October 11, EESI joined with 19 other organizations in a letter to NRCS Chief David White, observing that " Achieving soil health is part of a systems approach to agriculture production that benefits the landscape, reduces nutrient loading and sediment runoff, increases efficiencies, and sustains wildlife habitat, while providing the potential for cost savings to producers. Soil health minimizes the impacts of severe environmental and weather conditions to provide a consistent food, fuel, feed, and fiber supply for future generations. "

Click here to read the letter and see the list of signatories.

Conservation biomass can help, too. It can play an important role in protecting the nation’s soils on highly erodible lands while also providing farmers with a new revenue source from local renewable bioenergy markets. Learn more about the role conservation biomass can play in this recent EESI briefing " Conservation, Energy Security, and Jobs with Biomass Crops? A Question for the Next Farm Bill" .

Using perennial biomass crops as watershed buffers around conventional row crops is an important step that corn producers can take to "Do Corn Better and Do Better than Corn." It can be a win-win for soil and water conservation, water quality protection, and climate change mitigation.

An example of biomass conservation is described in this recent news story from KBIA radio about a farmer in Missouri. The perennial biomass crops there flourished this year – despite growing in the epicenter of the nation’s worst drought in decades.

Of course, none of these initiatives will expand as needed unless Congress enacts a new Farm Bill with strong conservation and energy titles and mandatory funding. Many of the USDA programs that can support initiatives like these have been in legislative limbo since the 2008 Farm Bill authorizations expired September 30.

Additional recent SBFF coverage of related conservation topics was posted:

• September 21, " EESI Joins Letter Opposing Paying for Drought Disaster Aid With Cuts to Conservation Programs "
• September 7, " Dead Zone in Gulf of Mexico Shrinks; Will Perennial Biomass Crops Help Keep It That Way? "
• August 10, " House Passes Drought Disaster Relief Bill, Cuts Conservation Programs, and Delays Farm Bill "
• August 10, " What If Extreme Heat and Drought Become the New Normal? "