Grants to improve soil health are the centerpiece of NMDA’s Healthy Soil Program. Every year, NMDA awards grants to implement on-the-ground projects that involve one or more of the five soil health principles. The soil health principles are stated as follows in the Healty Soil Act, which created the program:
- keeping soil covered
- minimizing soil disturbance on cropland and minimizing external inputs
- maximizing biodiversity
- maintaining a living root
- integrating animals into land management, including grazing animals, birds, beneficial insects or keystone species, such as earthworms
The next (Fiscal Year 2027) application cycle will open in early 2026. Projects selected for funding will happen between July 2026 and September 2027.
To be notified of Healthy Soil Program updates, including future funding opportunities, use the form at the bottom of this page to subscribe to the electronic newsletter.
NMDA welcomes applications for Healthy Soil Program grants from two (2) types of applicants:
1. Eligible Entities, defined in the Healthy Soil Act as “local governmental [entities] with proven land management capacity to support healthy soil”, including:- Pueblos, tribes, and nations
- Acequias
- Land grants
- Soil and water conservation districts (SWCDs)
- New Mexico State University — Cooperative Extension Service
- Other local governmental entities with "proven land management to support healthy soil"
2. Individual Applicants, a category that includes individuals, businesses, and nonprofits directly engaged in farming, ranching, and/or other forms of land management.
Below is an interactive map of past Healthy Soil Program grantees, Eligible Entities and Individual Applicants, in New Mexico. Each point includes a project summary, the amount awarded, and other project-specific details.
NMDA’s Healthy Soil Program background
NMDA created its Healthy Soil Program after the Healthy Soil Act was signed into law in 2019. The purpose of the program is “to promote and support farming and ranching systems and other forms of land management that increase soil organic matter, aggregate stability, microbiology and water retention to improve the health, yield and profitability of the soils of the state.”
NMDA's Healthy Soil Program and NMSU—Cooperative Extension Service partnered to host the first-ever New Mexico Soil Health and Soil Carbon Conference in the summer of 2024. The conference consisted of talks and tours related to both cropland and rangeland. Watch the conference talks.
Interested in learning more about the Healthy Soil Tax Refund Contribution Option? Please visit the NM Healthy Soil Working Group.
NMDA’s Healthy Soil Program
hsp@nmda.nmsu.edu
575-646-2642