Happy New Year! I hope that you enjoyed quality time off over the holidays and that your outlook for 2022 is especially bright. Here at Trust In Food, we are well underway planning for our annual Symposium (in-person from Feb. 14-16 in Nashville and virtual Feb. 22-23 – you can click here to register), among many other activities. We hope our paths cross early and often this year as we work together to support farmers and ranchers on their regenerative agriculture journey.

The passing of time also brings bittersweet change. Over the past two weeks, the conservation community lost two long-time champions of nature and its wonder. Thomas Lovejoy, spotlighted in a touching feature in The New York Times, brought the concept of biodiversity into the mainstream. He elevated the profile of conservation in South America, specifically by emphasizing the value of Amazon rainforest protection in tackling climate change and preserving wildlife species. Also in late December, E.O. Wilson died. Like Lovejoy, Wilson focused his decades of research and teaching on the importance of biodiversity. Among other accomplishments, he founded a free online directory, the Encyclopedia of Life, documenting nearly 2 million species found worldwide, as noted in this BBC tribute. (If you’re looking for a quick synopsis of both, this New Yorker piece is an excellent primer.)

As both of these conservationists reminded us during their lifetimes, humankind has great potential to make positive progress. That capacity for change is on full display in my colleague Ryan Heiniger’s post this week about farming weird. Producers often face raised eyebrows and chuckles from their peers when attempting to farm in a more regenerative fashion. Yet Ryan, a farmer himself, reminds us that there is tremendous promise in supporting more farmers to take a step out in courage—and creating a culture in which the perceived risks of conservation-minded farming are curbed. I encourage you to read his article and embrace a mindset in 2022 that creates more space for farmers to do exactly this, celebrating “weird” farming and bringing practices perceived as unusual into the mainstream.

Then in this week’s ACAM spotlight, our partners at The Nature Conservancy pick up this theme and provide tangible examples of farmers taking a chance with conservation ag on their back 40. These acres give farmers permission to experiment and test out conservation practices that can bring both environmental and economic benefits. Give their post a read and be sure to watch the video—I promise it will bring a smile to your face.

Last but not least, can I ask a big favor? Our team at Trust In Food is hungry for your feedback as we seek to strengthen this newsletter for you, our audience of regenerative ag professionals. Let me invite you to participate in a brief online survey—click here to get started—to help us continue refining the information we’re bringing you each week. (You’ll also find a couple of questions about our upcoming Symposium so it meets your needs—we’d value your thinking on that topic, too.) Thank you very much for sharing your time and great ideas with us. We look forward to serving you with helpful, actionable information in the year ahead.