The non-profit Soil Health Academy (SHA) today announced it has received a $200,000 grant from financial services company Wells Fargo to further advance the adoption of soil health-focused regenerative agricultural principles and practices throughout the nation.
The grant will fund 100 scholarships for women, veteran, new and beginning, and historically under-represented farmers and ranchers to attend SHA’s upcoming, on-farm regenerative agriculture schools.
Featuring instruction from a cadre of world-renowned regenerative farming and ranching experts, these three-day events feature foundational and practical regenerative agriculture education, including access to the on-line Regen Ag 101 course and post-school follow up and support, from the instructor cadre.
In addition, a portion of the grant funding will be used to collect farm financial, production and soil health data that will be used to develop relevant case studies examining the correlation between soil health and farm financial health.
“We’re increasingly seeing anecdotal evidence linking soil health, farm resiliency and improved profitability,” said SHA President Dawn Breitkreutz. “Along with providing in-person education, this grant will allow SHA to collect, analyze and share on-farm data via case studies that will further quantify the economic resiliency generated through the application of regenerative agricultural principles and practices. We’re excited and grateful to partner with Wells Fargo in this important endeavor.”
According to Jennivine Kwan, strategist with Wells Fargo’s Institute for Sustainable Finance, the grant to SHA represents an opportunity for Wells Fargo to help improve the financial health and quality of life of farmers and their communities, empower diverse entrepreneurs and small business, and promote greater adoption of regenerative farming practices that can also bring about significant positive environmental outcomes.
“We are proud to support the Soil Health Academy in their efforts to bring the environmental, social and economic promise of regenerative agriculture practices to women, veteran, new and beginning, and historically under-represented farmers and ranchers across the country,” Kwan said. “This exciting initiative aligns well with Wells Fargo’s commitment to advance community resiliency and adaptation efforts, empower diverse entrepreneurs and small businesses, and accelerate a just transition to a low-carbon future.”
