7/13/23
Today, our guest speaker was Shelby Best representing the American Farmland Trust.
The American Farmland Trust (AFT) was founded in 1980. AFT created the conservation agriculture movement, which speaks for the land—and for the people who grow our food.
- AFT has three priorities: protecting agricultural land, promoting environmentally sound farming practices, and keeping farmers on the land.
- AFT is the only national agricultural organization that approaches its work in this comprehensive, holistic manner.
- AFT recognizes the connection between the land, forward-looking farming practices, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work.
- Initiatives in the Midwest include:
- Argonne National Laboratory Perennial Bioenergy Project: Argonne National Lab and American Farmland Trust are partnering to promote and support farms in the implementation of perennial bioenergy crops on marginal land.
- Vermilion Headwaters Watershed(VHW): The VHW Partnership is a collaboration of farmers, community leaders, government agencies, research institutions, and non-profit organizations, working to reduce the loss of nutrients from farmland in the VHW.
- Fall Covers for Spring Saving (FCSS): The Illinois Fall Covers for Spring Savings program promotes regenerative agriculture practices in order to improve soil and water health in Illinois.
- Illinois Cover Crop Initiative: This program provides payments to farmers for incorporating cover crops, no-tillage, and/or emissions scoring into their operations. This is a dynamic program is keeping nutrients and
carbon in the soil while keeping waterways cleaner for the whole community. - WI Farmland Protection Partnership is a collaboration of 19 land trusts, municipalities, academia, and state agencies aimed at permanently protecting agricultural land through agriculturalconservation easements and
promoting the adoption of soil health practices on protected lands.
Additional information is available at: https://farmland.org/about/