As House and Senate Agriculture leaders keep working toward passing a farm bill yet this year, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is urging Congress to approve legislation that will continue to provide farmers and ranchers with the tools to conserve our nation’s land and water resources.

“The farm bill is the most important legislation for conserving private lands in America,” said Larry Clemens, TNC agriculture director for North America. He adds that voluntary conservation programs in the bill promote healthier soil, cleaner water, enhanced wildlife habitat, increased flood control, and lowered risk of damage from natural disasters.

TNC notes that all of those benefits are now at risk since Congress allowed the current farm bill to expire on September 30 without passing a new one, so they are urging all people involved in agriculture to contact their lawmakers, “and focus on getting Congress to pass us a good, solid farm bill that will give us some stability for the next five years,” Clemens said.

Soil health is of particular interest to the Conservancy, which provides technical support to the Soil Health Partnership, which fosters transformation in agriculture through improved soil health, benefiting farmer profitability, a stable food supply, and the environment.

Listen to an interview with Clemens here: Interview with Larry Clemens, The Nature Conservancy