Missouri is among six states set to benefit from a pilot program receiving a grant from USDA. A grant totaling 700-thousand dollars from the Natural Resources Conservation Service will go to the Croatan Institute for the development of Rural Regenerative Agricultural Districts. The Conservation Innovation Grant will help the North Carolina-based institute develop a financing model to support the adoption of farming systems that improve “soil wealth”, a term Croatan says captures the concepts of soil health and rural community wealth. With Rural Regenerative Ag Districts, the group hopes to help producers and landowners find up-front capital to build soil wealth into their ag operations. The project is one of 19 that NRCS awarded grants to this week. Matching funds of one-point-two-seven million dollars have also been pledged from other sources. In addition to Missouri and North Carolina, Croatan plans to pilot the program in California, Kansas, Oregon and Wisconsin.