WASHINGTON, D.C – Today, U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-MN) and Todd Young (R-IN) reintroduced bipartisan legislation that will help bolster soil research and improve agricultural resilience and productivity in the Midwest and across the country. Experts estimate that American farmers could store up to 220 billion pounds of carbon annually across all US croplands. However, current technology cannot accurately measure soil carbon levels, impacting our ability to track soil health improvements, correlate those improvements with on-farm benefits, and reward farmers for their contributions to environmental health and resilience.
“Farmers in Minnesota understand the importance of having reliably healthy, productive soil,” said Senator Smith. “This bipartisan legislation would help farmers by supporting a long-term research effort that deepens our understanding of soil carbon storage potential in agricultural land. These tools can help make our farms more resilient and give farmers access to realistic, impactful strategies for their operations. It’s a win for farmers today and the farmers of future generations.”
“Hoosier farmers and producers feed our communities, drive our economy, and play a critical role in our supply chains. This legislation will equip and empower our agriculture sector to choose the best practices for their individual operations,” said Senator Young.
The Advancing Research on Agricultural Soil Health Act will allow strategic investment in technologies to measure and monitor soil carbon. This information can improve our understanding of agriculture’s potential to store emitted carbon and empower farmers and ranchers to choose the best practices available to them.
Specifically, The Advancing Research on Agricultural Soil Health Act would direct USDA to:
- Develop consistent and standardized soil carbon measurement methodologies based on the best available science and in consultation with producers, soil carbon scientists, and diverse stakeholder groups,
- Leverage the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) to develop new tools for MMRV of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration,
- Conduct on-farm demonstrations to improve producer understanding and adoption of soil carbon sequestration practices,
- Establish a Soil Carbon Inventory and Analysis Network led by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) to inventory, monitor, and analyze soil carbon and greenhouse gas changes on agricultural land over time, and
- Develop modeling tools grounded in direct measurements and the best available science that allow users to estimate changes in soil carbon and greenhouse gas emissions resulting from implementing conservation management practices.
“By directing critical investments into US soil health and carbon stocks, the Advancing Research on Agricultural Soil Health Act will improve how we track the impacts of land management practices across diverse geographies and operations — delivering actionable insights to farmers and ranchers,” said Daphne Yin, director of policy at Carbon180. “This bill lays the necessary groundwork for innovative farmer decision-making tools, improved predictive modeling, and science-backed producer incentives. We applaud Senators Smith and Young for their leadership in advancing solutions to today’s agricultural and environmental challenges that center producers’ needs.”
“Healthy soils are the foundation of a resilient farm economy. By investing in trusted tools and research to better measure and track soil carbon, this bill supports farmers and ranchers as they adopt practices that boost productivity and strengthen natural resource stewardship. This bill champions a science-driven, producer-focused approach to soil health,” said Joanna Slaney, Environmental Defense Fund Vice President for Political and Government Affairs.
“Healthy and resilient agricultural landscapes ensure American producers can generate the foods, fiber, and fuels needed to drive our economy. What’s more, these soils can store vast quantities of carbon as plants draw CO2 from the air. BPC Action applauds Sens. Tina Smith (D-NM) and Todd Young’s (R-IN) Advancing Research on Agricultural Soil Health Act, which directs USDA to systematically assess soil carbon across the country. This standardized approach is essential to improving our understanding of our farming landscapes and the vital economic, environmental, and climate benefits they provide,” said Michele Stockwell, president of Bipartisan Policy Center Action (BPC Action).
“Carba supports the Advancing Research on Agricultural Soil Health Act because standardized soil carbon measurement is essential to scaling durable carbon removal solutions like biochar, while ensuring that rural and frontline communities benefit from improved soil health, cleaner air, and long-term climate resilience,” said Andrew Jones, Chief Executive Officer and Founder at Carba.
“By catalyzing the development of new tools and predictive models to measure, monitor, report, and verify soil carbon, this legislation will enable USDA and the private sector to better direct funds to management decisions with the most potential for soil carbon sequestration. These investments in large-scale data analysis and on-farm demonstration trials are needed to give U.S. producers greater insights to optimize regionally-relevant practices that sequester carbon, increase soil health, and improve agricultural productivity,” said Emily Bass, Director of Federal Policy for Food & Agriculture at the Breakthrough Institute.
Read full text of the bill here or view the one-pager here.
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