New Mexico Healthy Soil Initiative

We are at a critical time for agriculture and the environment. The realities of extreme weather events, conflicts over water, the blight of rural communities, and diminishing natural resources are bearing down on all New Mexicans, with farmers and ranchers at the forefront of these serious problems. At the same time, awareness that soil stewardship can be part of the solution to the climate crisis has been rising and new approaches, mutually beneficial for agriculture and the environment, are gaining traction. Land stewards are looking for ways to improve the soil, but they require know-how, sustained technical assistance, help in over- coming institutional barriers, financial incentives, and risk mitigation.

NM Healthy Soil Act

The NM Healthy Soil Working Group formed in the fall of 2018, with the goal to significantly accelerate soil health stewardship in the state. Addressing the prime challenges of inadequate soil health education, lack of financial incentives and prevailing institutional barriers, we succeeded in passing the NM Healthy Soil Act in the spring of 2019. As authors of the bill, we brought together an extensive coalition of over 100 food and agriculture related organizations, as well as environmental groups and dozens of farms and ranches (see below). With this supportive network, the bill had bipartisan support in the house, received unanimous backing in the senate, and was signed into law by the governor on April 2, 2019.

NM Healthy Soil Program

Based on five proven soil-health principles, New Mexico’s Healthy Soil Act establishes the New Mexico Healthy Soil Program under the NM Department of Agriculture (NMDA). The voluntary incentives program is facilitated on the ground by Soil & Water Conservation Districts and other local entities. The Healthy Soil Program explicitly enables pueblos and tribes, acequias and land-grant communities, to access funding and prioritizes small farms and ranches, young farmers, veterans, and projects that benefit disadvantaged communities.

NMDA’s Healthy Soil Program was launched in August 2019. Demand for the Healthy Soil Program has been strong and widespread, with applications far exceeding available funds. In 2020, recurring state funding to the Healthy Soil Program was secured in NMDA’s budget. In the 2022 legislative session, funding for the Healthy Soil Program was included in the Governor’s Food, Farm and Hunger Initiative and approved at $1,000.000 – more than double the previous amount.

In an effort to create additional funding sources for the Healthy Soil Program, NM Healthy Soil Working Group authored HB 89 “The Healthy Soil Tax Refund Contribution Option”. This bill passed in April 2021 with near unanimous support, enabling any New Mexico tax paying resident who qualifies for a refund on their personal income tax return to voluntarily donate all or part of their refund to the Healthy Soil Program.

In 2023, the Working Group successfully advocated for the establishment of the Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund (SB 9) as part of a large coalition. The Legacy Fund was created and funded at the initial amount of $100 million dollars. Proceeds support several New Mexico land and water conservation programs including the Healthy Soil Program, providing a permanent funding source for the program in the approximate amount of $1M per funding cycle. The Department of Agriculture has discretion to determine the exact amount year to year.

This map provided by NMDA’s shows that the Healthy Soil Program has become well established throughout the state. Awards for FY 2025 have been announced at a total of $1.45M—the highest amount since the grant program’s inception. For more information about the program and to apply, please visit NMDA’s Healthy Soil Program website.

The NM Healthy Soil Working Group continues to advocate for expanded resources and additional long term funds for the Healthy Soil Program. We will continue working with NMDA toward improving the program and increasing access for underserved communities.

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