Grants to improve soil health are the centerpiece of NMDA’s Healthy Soil Program. Every year, NMDA awards grants to implement on-the-ground projects that involve one or more of the five soil health principles, stated as follows in the legislative Act that created the program:

1.  keeping soil covered;
2.  minimizing soil disturbance on cropland and minimizing external inputs;
3.  maximizing biodiversity;
4.  maintaining a living root; and
5.  integrating animals into land management, including grazing animals, birds, beneficial insects or keystone

Projects selected for funding will happen between August 2024 and May 2025.