Funding the Science of Regenerative Agriculture

LaKisha Odom is Scientific Program Director (Soil Health) at The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research. A non-profit organization funded by the Farm Bill, FFAR is helping to fund the scientific research behind healthy soil practices so that more farmers can make the transition to regenerative agriculture and long-term sustainability and resilience.

Show Notes:

2’21 what FFAR is all about
3’47 how they work, what they fund
6’02 measuring carbon in soil
6’23 carbon sequestration potential of different soil types
6’40 economic benefits of regenerative ag
7’03 need data on ranch soil as opposed to crop soil
8’03 need regional recommendations
8’40 food system in a pandemic
9’17 transitioning agriculture–do good yields and healthy soils go together
10’13 not just minimize harm but actively restore the health of the planet
11’40 resistance to change
11’57 early adopters of regenerative agriculture
12’17 need for technical assistance
12’44 hard to measure how much carbon is being sequestered
13’41 farmers need data in order to make changes securely
14’39 empowering farmers to make the best choices for themselves
15’30 the importance of having industry at the table
16’36 some corporate food companies are looking at regenerative agriculture
17’58 companies would like to be more resilient
18’48 consumers increasingly want regeneratively produced food
19’43 equity and inclusion
20’34 recently there’s more intention about diverdity and inclusion
22’08 regenerative ag has a sense of community and inclusion
24’46 more about FFAR
26’00 soil health metrics project
27’00 how do get new practices adopted in places where landowners aren’t doing the farming
27’36 cover cropping strategies across geographies
28’24 decreasing reporting burden on farmers
29’32 ecosystem services and carbon markets, ways to pay farmers for improving the land
32’16 basing policy in science
33’32 relationship between CO2 and nutrition
34’15 extension services not necessarily regenerative
35’19 taking anecdotal evidence and creating studies so that extension services can promote them
37’07 agriculture and pandemic
39’14 young farmers
40’44 people starting to grown their own food
42’15 be patient–these are complex systems

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