Join us on November 20^th for the next AURI Connects: Fields of Innovation webinar. This month’s edition focuses on ecosystem services markets. We will look at work done in Minnesota to test and develop new, market-based models to provide financial incentives to farmers that implement practices – such as new cash cover crops – that improve soil health, store carbon in soils, and reduce nutrient runoff from their fields.

Efforts currently underway include a 50,000-acre pilot project in the Sauk River watershed in Central Minnesota. The Nature Conservancy is working with Ecosystem Services Marketplace Consortium, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to advance ecosystem services markets that incentivize famers and ranchers to improve soil health and implement edge-of-field systems that benefit farmers, society and the environment.

The November 20^th webinar will feature some of the leaders in this project who will examine the potential these types of markets hold to increase the economic and environmental sustainability of agriculture in Minnesota and beyond.

The conversation about ecosystem services markets is ongoing at the Fields of Innovation Facebook Group.

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AURI Connects: Fields of Innovation is a platform focused on bringing together Minnesota’s regional ag and food value chains to build capacity and successfully commercialize new and emerging crops. Events focus on highlighting promising new crops, examining market opportunities for emerging crops, and highlighting new technologies in existing crops. To learn more about upcoming webinars and watch past recordings, visit us at www.auri.org/fields-of-innovation.