Our Programs
We recognize that the journey towards organic and regenerative agriculture requires more than just good intentions; it demands robust and innovative support systems for the farmers working with the land. That's why we're implementing a range of programs tailored to empower farmers as they steward the land towards health and vitality.
Emergency Funding
Regenerative Farmer Assurance Fund (RFAF)
In response to current federal funding uncertainty, Healing Soils Foundation (HSF) is launching the Regenerative Farmer Assurance Fund (RFAF) to provide critical financial relief to organic and regenerative farmers facing delays in public funding. With federal reimbursement programs frozen or slowed, farmers who depend on these funds for conservation, soil health, and infrastructure improvements are now at serious financial risk.
In early 2025, the Trump administration froze key federal agricultural grants and loans, delaying much-needed funding for farmers. While some funds have since been released, many farmers remain in limbo, forced into uncertainty for critical projects with no clear timeline for repayment. These delays threaten their ability to plant, harvest, and invest in sustainable infrastructure—jeopardizing both their livelihoods and the future of regenerative agriculture in the Midwest.
HSF created RFAF as a bridge funding solution to help farmers stay afloat. This fund provides recoupable emergency grants that allow farmers to keep moving forward while waiting for delayed public reimbursements. If their reimbursement arrives, they repay the grant, keeping the fund sustainable and available for others. If no reimbursement comes, the grant converts to non-recoupable aid, ensuring farmers don’t bear additional financial burdens.
By offering this crucial safety net, HSF is stabilizing the regenerative farming movement, protecting soil health initiatives, and ensuring Midwest farmers can continue their vital work without interruption.
How RFAF Works:
Farmers facing reimbursement delays can apply for an emergency grant to cover expenses.
If reimbursement arrives, the farmer repays the grant, allowing HSF to redeploy funds.
If no reimbursement materializes, the grant becomes non-recoupable, ensuring farmers aren’t left financially vulnerable.
Funds are limited, applications are accepted on a rolling basis and awarded based on financial need, urgency, and environmental and community impact.
Who Is Eligible?
Organic and regenerative farmers in Midwest states (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) experiencing public funding delays.
Farmers who have executed contracts for programs like EQIP, CSP, and RFSI but have not received expected reimbursements.
Farmers with immediate financial needs due to these delays.
Grant Details:
Up to $50,000 per farmer, for larger infrastructure grants, farmers are encouraged to reapply as additional funds are needed.
Rolling applications – funds are distributed as available.
Farmers reimburse the fund if and when their delayed public funding is received.
Impact & Sustainability:
Keeps farmers financially secure while waiting for government reimbursements.
Ensures regenerative agriculture projects stay on track despite funding delays.
Creates a revolving fund to support more farmers as reimbursements are repaid.
Core Programming
Land Access
Our land access program supports eligible farmers engaged in conservation practices and classified as socially disadvantaged under the USDA definition with reduced mortgage interest rates. By partnering directly with mortgage lenders, qualified Socially Disadvantaged Farmers can receive up to a 2% interest reduction.
Why This Focus Area: There are significant barriers to accessing financing for socially disadvantaged farmers who represent 4.5% of all farmers in the US in 2017, compared to 13.3% in 1900. According to the World Wildlife Foundation, Indigenous people comprise less than 5% of the world population, but protect 80% of the Earth’s biodiversity in the forests, deserts, grasslands, and marine environments in which they have lived for centuries.
This program was setup to complement and catalyze the impact of Iroquois Valley’s Rooted in Regeneration program and allows Healing Soils to double our impact for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers.
Key Benefits:
Healthy Planet: According to a report by the USDA, minority-operated farms are more likely to be organic-certified compared to farms operated by non-minorities.
Healthy People: BIPOC and indigenous farmers preserve cultural food traditions by growing heritage crops, ensuring that community members have access to culturally significant foods that support health and well-being.
Thriving Communities: Investments in BIPOC and socially disadvantaged farmers have been shown to generate up to 3 times more economic benefits within their local communities compared to non-diverse farms.
Rebuild Midwest
Rebuild Midwest was launched to address the critical infrastructure gaps that limit the success of regenerative farmers. While programs like Restore Midwest fund on-farm soil health improvements, farmers often lack the storage, processing, and distribution infrastructure necessary to bring their products to market. Without these essential systems, even the most sustainable farms remain economically vulnerable, struggling to compete against industrial agriculture’s dominant supply chains.
Through Rebuild Midwest, HSF is investing in regional food infrastructure that ensures regenerative farmers can scale their operations and access fair, stable markets. This initiative funds projects such as on-farm grain storage, regional processing hubs, and local meatpacking facilities, allowing regenerative farmers to retain more value from their products. By addressing these supply chain gaps, Rebuild Midwest strengthens rural economies, enhances food system resilience, and ensures that regenerative agriculture remains a viable, scalable solution for climate-smart farming.
Restore Midwest
Restore Midwest is an innovative partnership between Healing Soils Foundation (HSF) and Zero Foodprint (ZFP) to scale regenerative agriculture across the Midwest. ZFP’s proven funding model mobilizes resources from the food and beverage industry, typically through a 1% contribution from participating businesses, to finance climate-smart agricultural practices. ZFP has awarded over $2.6 million of private sector funds and $4.9 million from government funds to over 500 farm projects. These funds are deployed as direct to farmer grants enabling them to adopt regenerative methods that restore soil health and sequester carbon. By combining ZFP’s innovative funding infrastructure with HSF’s deep-rooted connections and partnerships within the Midwest farming community, Restore Midwest ensures that financial support reaches as many farmers as possible.
By directly investing in farmers, our land stewards, Restore Midwest is ensuring that farmers have the means to transition away from extractive agriculture and towards a more sustainable and resilient food system. Restore Midwest provides funding to farmers to implement regenerative agricultural practices that improve soil health, enhance biodiversity, and increase climate resilience. This program is a key lever for, HSF to support farmers in adopting critical techniques such as cover cropping, rotational grazing, no-till farming, and compost application. THe impact is restoring degraded soils and helping sequester carbon, reduce water runoff, and improve long-term farm viability. At HSF, we know collaboration is essential to create systems-level change. Transforming agriculture at scale requires a coordinated effort, and this partnership between HSF and ZFP is key to making regenerative farming more accessible, impactful, and widespread. This collaboration is funding the transition to soil health and creating lasting systems that empower farmers and improve climate resilience. Together, we are accelerating the transition to a regenerative future, fostering better food systems, thriving farms, and a restored climate.
The Paul Bickford Legacy Grant
The Paul Bickford Legacy Grant supports Midwestern organic and regenerative farmers that are leaders in their community, actively sharing the principles of regenerative agriculture, and strengthening the regional foodshed to revitalize our soils.
This grant honors the legacy of Paul Bickford, a beloved friend, mentor, and innovative organic farmer. Paul, who passed away in a farm accident on August 23, 2022, was a pioneer in transitioning from conventional to organic farming practices. His journey began with his father Melvin in Sauk County, before he established the Bickford Diary in Ridgeway in 1978. In 1992, Paul and his family converted their confinement dairy operation to rotational grazing and became strong advocates for this movement. Over the last decade, Paul transitioned to organic grain farming under the name Bickford Organics. Paul was a tireless advocate for organic farming and nurturing the next generation of farmers. He served on Wisconsin's Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection's Organic Advisory Council and the USDA Advisory Committee on Beginning Farmers and Ranchers. His contributions were numerous, and his legacy continues to inspire.
