For three generations, the Harris family farmed White Oak Pastures, based in southern Georgia, the conventional way, relying heavily on chemicals, pesticides, and antibiotics. In the mid-1990s, fourth-generation farmer Will Harris started the transition to regenerative methods, which prioritize building and preserving healthy soils, avoiding synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and minimal or no tilling.

Like many regenerative farmers and proponents, Harris intently listened to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’s Dec. 10 introduction of a Regenerative Pilot Program that will allocate $700 million to support regenerative agriculture.

“For the first time in my lifetime, the [Department of Agriculture] is publicly showing an interest in this kind of production, and that is encouraging,” Harris said.

Harris told The Epoch Times that White Oak started transitioning to regenerative farming in 1995.

In 1976, he said, he graduated from the University of Georgia with an animal science degree, returned to the farm, and ran it as his father had, as an “industrial, conventional, monocultural cattle guy.”

“We were heavily invested in all the tools, pesticides, chemical fertilizer, and antibiotics,” said Harris, who is also the founder of the Center for Agricultural Resilience, an organization centered on education about the benefits of regenerative farming. “We didn’t make a lot of money, but we were profitable.”

“All of those ways have negative unintended consequences—like degradation of the soil and water, and poor animal welfare,“ he said. ”It’s hard on the land, the water, the environment, and all of the animal species.”

Regenerative farming, Harris said, “respects the cycles of nature.”

Rollins made the announcement at a news conference on Dec. 10, alongside Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz, and regenerative farmers from California, Indiana, and Missouri.

“Protecting and improving the health of our soil is critical, not only for the future viability of farmland, but to the future success of American farmers,” Rollins said.

“In order to continue to be the most productive and most efficient growers in the world, we must protect our topsoil from unnecessary erosion and boost the microbiome of the soil,” she said.

The program will take funding from existing Department of Agriculture (USDA) conservation programs, including $400 million from the USDA’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program and $300 million from its Conservation Stewardship Program, according to a USDA statement.

The regenerative farming methods at White Oak Pastures are helping to restore the land’s biodiversity and water quality. (Courtesy of Jenni Harris)

It will be managed by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

Kennedy said the program will give farmers who are dependent on chemical and fertilizer inputs “an off-ramp” to help them transition to a model that emphasizes soil health.

“With soil health comes nutrient density,” Kennedy said.

The program aligns with the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission’s focus on addressing the nation’s chronic disease epidemic by strengthening the nutrient density in food and decreasing reliance on chemicals, according to Kennedy.

A regenerative farmer based in Mississippi, Allen Williams is cofounder of the Soil Health Academy and Understanding Ag, which help farmers, ranchers, and growers implement regenerative principles and practices.

Williams holds a doctorate in livestock genetics from Louisiana State University and pioneered many early regenerative grazing protocols and forage finishing techniques. He now teaches those principles to farmers globally.

“We’ve never had this kind of funding allocation earmarked for regenerative farming,” Williams told The Epoch Times, noting that he is “cautiously optimistic.”

“This opens the door for future funding, and for shaping future agriculture policies on Capitol Hill because more legislators will be familiar with the benefits of regenerative farming methods.”

“It’s still government, still bureaucracy, but it’s absolutely a major step forward,” he said. “It heightens public awareness and interest in what regenerative farming is all about, which is as important as the $700 million itself.”

Williams defines regenerative agriculture as “farming and ranching in synchrony with nature to repair, rebuild, revitalize and restore ecosystem function.”

“The key part is the last sentence of that definition—starting with life within the soil, and then expanding the life above,“ Williams said. ”That clearly distinguishes it from conventional farming because the conventional way is all about the chemistry of the soil, not the life in the soil.”

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is joined by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and California farmer Blake Alexander (L) during the announcement of a $700 million pilot program to support regenerative agriculture, at the Department of Agriculture in Washington on Dec. 10, 2025. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

U.S. farming was decimated by the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. In response, Congress created the NRCS with the intention of improving the land and conserving America’s soil and water resources. Between 1948 and 2021, total U.S. farm production increased by 190 percent, while total farm inputs—including land, labor, and water—decreased by about 2 percent in the same period.

In a Dec. 10 statement, NRCS acknowledged that “current conservation programs at USDA have become overly burdensome and farmers are bogged down with red tape whenever they try to adopt soil health and regenerative agriculture practices.”

USDA data show that farmers recently reported that 25 percent of their acreage has water-driven erosion concerns and 16 percent of acreage has wind-driven erosion issues, according to the statement.

The pilot program addresses these challenges by reducing administrative burdens for producers, expanding access to new and beginning farmers, and boosting yields and long-term soil resilience across operations, the NRCS said.

Describing the program on its website, the NRCS stated that “for too long” funding has “unintentionally encouraged isolated, practice-by-practice conservation, rather than holistic management.”

Through the pilot program, farmers can bundle multiple regenerative practices into one application, “streamlining the process and increasing flexibility for operations,” the NRCS statement reads.

The program is designed for farmers who are “ready to take the next step in regenerative agriculture,” the NRCS said.

NRCS will also establish an advisory council composed of farmers, consumers, and private partners.

The council will include 15 members, the NRCS reported: nine regenerative farmers representing production systems, three corporate supply chain or consumer packaged goods representatives, and three consumer or MAHA representatives.

Rick Clark, an Indiana-based regenerative farmer and cofounder of American Regeneration, an organization committed to advancing regenerative agriculture initiatives, called the pilot program “a victory for regeneration” and said it is “exactly what the farmer needs to start making changes” on a farm.

After the Dec. 10 announcement, Clark participated in a roundtable representing producers who are showing the viability of regenerative agriculture at scale.

“To see regenerative agriculture recognized at the highest levels of government is incredibly encouraging,” Clark said. “Being asked to represent farmers in this conversation shows that the USDA is finally listening to producers who have proven that regenerative systems work at scale.”

Angela Huffman is president of Farm Action, a regenerative farming organization.

“Done right, this investment will help farmers lower their input costs, break free from the export-driven commodity overproduction treadmill, and move toward healthier, more resilient, and more profitable farming systems,” she said in a statement.

Huffman urged the USDA to take steps to ensure that small, independent farms receive assistance.

“If the Trump administration wants this initiative to succeed, USDA must make sure the Natural Resources Conservation Service—after significant funding cuts—has enough staff to get these dollars out quickly and fairly, reaching farmers across America, not just the largest operations by default,” she said in a statement.

Two regenerative farmers, who spoke to The Epoch Times on condition of anonymity, said they are skeptical of the pilot program, citing their belief that NRCS practices are ecologically unfavorable and their doubts about the efficacy of government grants.

Some MAHA advocates have expressed their disapproval of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) policies. Aubrey Bettencourt, chief of the NRCS, on Dec. 10 said her organization is in discussions with EPA Director Lee Zeldin and his staff.

“We’re very, very confident of [Zeldin’s] commitment to make sure to reduce toxic exposures to the American people,” Bettencourt said.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) also indicated that it supports regenerative farming.

SBA Director of Rural Affairs Richard Kingan described the pilot program as “an initiative that reflects a forward-thinking commitment to healthier communities and a resilient food supply.”

“Family farmers are the original small business owners—and by cutting red tape for them, this administration is making it easier to continue producing nutritious and affordable foods that local communities rely on,” he said.

Farmer and attorney John Klar at his homestead in Brookfield, Vt., on Sept. 12, 2025. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

John Klar is an attorney turned regenerative cattle farmer in Vermont. He works with the nonprofit MAHA Action and is the author of “Small Farm Republic” and the forthcoming “The War on Farmers: How Corporations, Activists, and Climate Alarmists Are Fueling a Global Food Crisis.”

Klar told The Epoch Times that he is encouraged by Bettencourt’s comments about Zeldin and by Kingan’s remarks.

“The MAHA movement needs multi-agency alliances to overcome the systemic problems plaguing Americans’ food supply,” Klar said. “The pilot program is an important first step in the right direction. Support from the SBA and the EPA is a welcome second.”

As part of the “Make Our Children Healthy Again“ strategy, released in September, the Department of Health and Human Services is also investing in research on the connection between regenerative agriculture and public health, developing public health messaging explaining this connection.

Williams told The Epoch Times that he would like to see the government change its policies, subsidies, incentive programs, and crop insurance programs to encourage regenerative farming over conventional methods.

Regenerative farming methods can be more profitable than conventional methods because they require fewer subsidies, incur less debt, and generate crops that are not as susceptible to damage from fungal diseases and pests, Williams said.

“It’s important we educate our lenders, too, because a regenerative farmer is a significantly lower risk to the lender than a conventional farmer, but the vast majority of lenders do not recognize that yet,” he said.

Regenerative farmers are lower risks for lenders, according to Williams, because they have more highly aggregated soil.

“The soil is able to infiltrate water a lot better and retain that water,” he said.

“Flooding and droughts are the two biggest weather-related events that cause crop failure, and that impacts crop insurance payments,“ Williams said. ”Better soil aggregation and water infiltration and retention helps mitigate floods and droughts. Regenerative farming also has fewer issues with pests and focal pathogens.”

Focal pathogens are microorganisms that can spread bacteria and toxins.

Harris said conventional farmers are “good people.”

“[They] farm the way their father and grandfather did, the way they were taught in college, and the way they are told by pesticide companies,” he said.

Like Williams, Harris would like to see the USDA invest in education about the benefits of regenerative farming.

“I think a lot of that change will be made as the older conventional farmers retire and new farmers with a different perspective take over those pieces of land, and recognize that regenerative methods are [respectful of] the environment, and are more profitable and resilient,” he said.

“That’s why it’s so important that more awareness be brought about our way of farming. The pilot program is a positive start.”