2025 NMDA Healthy Soils Financial Assistance Programs

Jan. 17, 2025

Dear Healthy Soil Program stakeholder:

This week, we launched our online application for NMDA’s Healthy Soil Program grants. The online application is where you’ll describe your project clearly and thoroughly, as well as upload the documents you’re required to produce in order to apply for a grant (images of your project site, information about the soil types identified there, etc.). The online application will close promptly at 12 p.m. (noon) on March 19, 2025. Late, incomplete, and paper applications will not be accepted for review.

New to NMDA’s Healthy Soil Program? This recent press release offers a brief introduction to the program.

Interested in applying for a grant? After determining your applicant type, get started on the step-by-step application process and sign up for our January 23 webinar to walk through the online application.

Planning to apply for a grant from NMDA’s Healthy Soil Program?

If you’ll apply for a grant on behalf of a “local governmental entity with proven land management capacity to support healthy soil”

Review the step-by-step application process unique to Eligible Entities.

If you’ll apply on behalf of a non-governmental party (yourself, your business, or your nonprofit) directly engaged in farming, ranching, or another form of land management:

Review the step-by-step application process unique to Individual Applicants. Pay special attention to the conservation-planning requirement (deadline to complete: Feb. 21) and project-sponsorship requirement that are unique to Individual Applicants.

▲ ELIGIBLE ENTITIES ▲

▲ INDIVIDUAL APPLICANTS ▲

We encourage you to continue reading for the latest soil health events, funding opportunities, and news. The inclusion of such items does not imply NMDA’s endorsement.

NMDA’s Healthy Soil Program

Learn more: https://nmdeptag.nmsu.edu/healthy-soil-program.html

Be in touch: [email protected]

EVENTS, IN-PERSON AND ONLINE

WHAT (click on a link below to learn more or register)	WHEN	WHERE	WHO (event organizer)
Managing Forests as Habitat in a Changing World: A Panel Discussion Webinar Series	Jan. 21, Feb. 18, and March 18	Online	USDA Climate Hubs
29^th Annual Winter Conference	Jan. 21-23	Wichita, KS	No-Till on the Plains
Biologicals and Biostimulants: The Effect on Nutrient Management	Jan. 22	Online	No-Till Farmer
Building Ecosystem Resilience & Adaptive Capacity: Aspen Ecology and Management in the Southwest	Jan. 22	Online	Forest Stewards Guild + Southwest Fire Science Consortium
EcoFarm Conference 2025	Jan. 22-25	Pacific Grove, CA	EcoFarm
Applying for a Healthy Soil Program grant as an ELIGIBLE ENTITY	Jan. 23	Online	New Mexico Department of Agriculture
Applying for a Healthy Soil Program grant as an INDIVIDUAL APPLICANT	Jan. 23	Online	New Mexico Department of Agriculture
Annie’s Project: Empowering Women in Agriculture (see attached flyer)	Mondays: Jan. 27; Feb. 3, 10, 17, 24; and March 3	Los Lunas	NMSU-Cooperative Extension Service
Exclusive Invite: Roots So Deep (you can see the devil down there) Watch Party and Live Q&A	Jan. 25	Online	Peter Byck and the Roots So Deep team
2025 Agroforestry Symposium: Working Lands for Restoration and Harvest	Jan. 30	Columbia, MO and Online	The Center for Agroforestry at the University of Missouri
Marketing Series with Good Meat Project & Quivira Coalition	Fridays: Jan. 31; Feb. 7 and 21; and March 7	Online	Good Meat Project + Quivira Coalition
Spring Institute on Phytophthora Research and Extension (SIPRE) workshop This no-cost workshop is open to the first 100 registrants. To register, email your name and contact information to Jason Fechner at [email protected].	Feb. 3	Las Cruces	New Mexico State University
2025 New Mexico Chile Conference	Feb. 3-4	Las Cruces	New Mexico State University—Chile Pepper Institute
Compost Applications on Rangeland with the NM Compost Coalition From Quivira Coalition: “Eva Stricker, research assistant professor at UNM’s Biology Department, will present about a multi-year collaborative project with UNM, Quivira, and ranchers studying compost applications on New Mexico rangelands. Link to Zoom meeting.”	Feb. 4 (1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Mountain Time)	Online	Dr. Eva Stricker, Ph.D., research assistant professor at UNM’s Biology Department
High Plains No-Till Conference	Feb. 4-5	Burlington, CO	Colorado Conservation Tillage Association
2025 Society for Range Management annual meeting	Feb. 9-13	Spokane, WA	Society for Range Management
Virtual SoilCon: Building Resiliency with Soils	Feb. 11	Online	Washington State Conservation Commission
Principles of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) for Meat and Poultry Processors (Learn more here)	Feb. 11-12	Las Cruces	New Mexico State University Extension Food Technology + University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension
DEADLINE for Individual Applicants applying for NMDA’s Healthy Soil Program grants to complete conservation planning with USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). (See Step 2* to learn more*)	Feb. 21 5 p.m. Mountain Time	Your location in New Mexico	New Mexico Department of Agriculture
New Mexico Tribal Forest & Fire Summit Roots for the Future: Strengthening Indigenous-Led Conservation	March 4-6	Mescalero	Stewards of the Southwest + Mescalero Apache Tribe + other partners
New Mexico Farmers’ Marketing Association “Local Food Connects” 27th annual conference	March 5-7	Santa Fe	New Mexico Farmers’ Marketing Association
Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference (Learn more here)	March 11-12	Ada, Ohio	The Ohio State University + Allen Soil and Water Conservation District
National Cover Crop Summit	March 18-20	Online	Cover Crop Strategies
DEADLINE for Eligible Entities and Individual Applicants applying for NMDA’s Healthy Soil Program grants to submit online grant applications, complete with required documents. (Learn more here)	March 19 12 p.m. (noon) Mountain Time	Online	New Mexico Department of Agriculture

Have a soil health-related event happening this month or next?

Please send details (registration website, etc.) to [email protected]

OTHER FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AND RESOURCES

From Transform F2C: Apply by Jan. 30: Dairy Manure Management incentive funds
Quivira Coalition: Apply by Feb. 1 for SOIL TO SUPPER: Strengthening Southwest Livestock Value Chains for Climate Resilience
New Mexico Acequia Association: Apply by Feb. 15: Los Sembradores Farmer Training Project (see attached flyer to learn more)
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association + National Cattlemen’s Foundation: Apply by Feb. 17 for the 2025 Environmental Stewardship Award
Green Cover Seed: Soil Health Resource Guides

SOIL HEALTH NEWS, organized by the 5 soil health principles

Soil health principle 1	Keep soil covered.	Understanding Ag: [Listen] Ep 374 – Brian Dougherty and Luke Jones – Thinking About Cover Crops… Brownfield Ag News: [Listen] Farmer retains soil moisture with cover crops Cover Crop Strategies: Tips for Making Cover Crop Termination Decisions
Soil health principle 2	Minimize soil disturbance on cropland and minimize external inputs.	Farmin Dude: [Watch] IS [NO-TILL] THE NEW WAY FORWARD? USDA—Economic Research Service: “No-till” practices are used on over half of major cropland acres Strip-Till Farmer: Innovation & Conservation Commitment Shapes Strip-Tiller’s Farm Successful Farming: Considerations to Integrate Biologicals Into Your Rotation
Soil health principle 3	Maximize biodiversity.	Farm Progress: Plant diversity benefits pollinators and soil health
Soil health principle 4	Maintain a living root.	Farm Progress: Keep dust from blowing off your farm ß an oldie-but-goodie!
Soil health principle 5	Integrate animals into land management, including grazing animals, birds, beneficial insects or keystone species, such as earthworms.	Understanding Ag: Digging Deeper into Disruption (in the Form of Grazing) Noble Research Institute: Why it makes business sense to branch out beyond cattle on your ranch
Multiple principles addressed, plus other news		NRCS South Dakota: [Watch] Do Soil Health Principles Apply to Grasslands? Indiana Humanities: [Watch] Worm Land “…farmer Keith Miller champions sustainable agriculture, embracing no-till practices and advocating for nightcrawlers – not the little wigglers. As he faces retirement, he reflects on a lifetime dedicated to the land.” New Mexico State University: NMSU researcher to lead workshop on plant pathogen Drovers: With More Arctic Air Set to Blast the U.S., Why This Winter Could Be Remembered for Its Extremes

2025 NMDA Healthy Soils Financial Assistance Programs

2025 New Mexico Chile Conference

Compost Applications on Rangeland with the NM Compost Coalition

From Quivira Coalition:
“Eva Stricker, research assistant professor at UNM’s Biology Department, will present about a multi-year collaborative project with UNM, Quivira, and ranchers studying compost applications on New Mexico rangelands. Link to Zoom meeting.”

Get in Touch

Links & Resources

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Get Social With Us

© 2025 Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District. All Rights Reserved

2025 NMDA Healthy Soils Financial Assistance Programs

2025 New Mexico Chile Conference

Compost Applications on Rangeland with the NM Compost Coalition

From Quivira Coalition: “Eva Stricker, research assistant professor at UNM’s Biology Department, will present about a multi-year collaborative project with UNM, Quivira, and ranchers studying compost applications on New Mexico rangelands. Link to Zoom meeting.”

Get in Touch

Links & Resources

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Get Social With Us

© 2025 Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District. All Rights Reserved

From Quivira Coalition:
“Eva Stricker, research assistant professor at UNM’s Biology Department, will present about a multi-year collaborative project with UNM, Quivira, and ranchers studying compost applications on New Mexico rangelands. Link to Zoom meeting.”