A survey of farmers in four Northeast states, including New York, found that incentive payments encouraged participants to plant twice as many acres of cover crops as they did prior to receiving funds – a change that can both improve their farms and mitigate climate change.

Soil holds about three times as much organic carbon as the atmosphere, which means that making strategic changes to how soil systems are used could play a major role in combating climate change. With that in mind, two Cornell soil scientists have helped develop a powerful new tool that will help researchers and policymakers map the global potential for carbon sequestration. Read more in this article from the Cornell Chronicle.

Attendees included farm organizations, farmers, environmentalist groups, experts from Cornell University, the Department of Agriculture, plus representatives from the Soil Health Institute, New York Farm Bureau, Northeast Organic Farming Association, the New York State Vegetable Growers Association, and American Farmland Trust. Participants in the roundtable discussed their own efforts to improve soil health, as well as some of the barriers they’re facing. Find out more in this article from the Mid-Hudson News (Newburgh, NY).