01
Find what may fit
We look across public and private funding for a path that may fit the ground, the proposed work, and the timing.
Conservation funding and field work
From funding to finished work, built around your ground.
Native Ground helps farmers, ranchers and landowners find funding that may fit, prepare the paperwork, and source and apply the materials an approved project calls for.
Working ground
Water
Nutrients
Biology
Stable carbon
Stable carbon gives soil a structure that holds water, nutrients and biology in place instead of letting them pass through.
Potential support may come through USDA, state agencies, tribal programs, universities, foundations, or private funders, and it is not always an agriculture program. The applicable program or funder makes the decision. Native Ground does not promise approval, eligibility, or funding.
How we work
Start with your ground, not the paperwork.
We begin with what is already here, what is being thrown away, and what the ground is short of. Then we build the answer out of what is local: waste turned to char, compost, the biology that belongs in this soil, matched to what the place actually needs.
There is work in federal conservation that almost nobody is allowed to do. Not because it is difficult, but because the person who performs it has to be designated by a tribal or Indigenous governing body. That rules out nearly every agricultural consultant in the country. It is the work Native Ground is built for, and you do not have to be Native to benefit from it.
The method isn't about who you are. It's about paying attention to one place at a time.
Why we exist
Funding can be real and still feel out of reach.
A producer can be interested in improving the ground and still get stopped by paperwork, program timing, material specifications, hauling, and the cost of getting work started.
Native Ground was built to connect those pieces. We find funding that may fit and, when a project moves forward, coordinate the work around it. We do not decide who qualifies and we cannot promise funding.
What we take on
The parts that are not farming.
02
Prepare the path
We help organize the records and paperwork, explain what each step is for, and keep the process moving.
03
Coordinate locally
We coordinate with farmers, ranchers and landowners, the agency or funder that holds the program, and the people needed to build the project correctly.
04
Move the material
When a project is approved and farmers, ranchers and landowners choose Native Ground, we coordinate sourcing, hauling, and field logistics.
05
Complete the work
We carry approved work from the written plan through documented implementation on the ground.
06
Come back when the next one opens
If one opportunity is not open or does not fit, we can keep looking as new programs and funding become available.
What makes us different
Three things, and the first one is not available from most people at all.
01. Work most providers are not permitted to do.
Some federal conservation work can only be performed by a person designated by a tribal or Indigenous governing body. The standard consulting credential does not qualify. The requirement is on the practitioner, not on you.
02. One hand from funding to finished field.
Most outfits do one piece of this. We look for funding that may fit, prepare the paperwork, coordinate with the office that holds the program, source and haul the material, and carry approved work into the ground, documented the way the program requires.
03. A blend built for your soil, not a bagged product.
What goes on your ground depends on a soil test and on the resource concern your plan identifies. Ground that is short of water holding capacity does not need the same thing as ground that is short of biology.
Who we work with
Farmers, ranchers and landowners.
You own or control working ground and you want it better. We look for funding that may fit, handle the paperwork, and do the field work. You do not have to be Native.
Tribal nations and Indigenous governing bodies.
You hold a standing that no federal agency can issue. We want to turn that into paid work for the people you designate, on ground across the region, with the knowledge staying yours. We are asking to build this with you, not to borrow it from you.
Universities and researchers.
Competitive funding of almost every kind asks whether real producers are ready to adopt what the research shows. We bring the producer network and the field observation across working ground that research acres cannot supply on their own.
Agencies, funders and regional partners.
We bring producers who have already signed up and records that are in order, so work can begin when a window opens rather than starting from scratch.
Where the name comes from
Black earth was built.
The Native Ground name is inspired by terra preta, the fertile, human-made soils built by Indigenous communities in the Amazon basin centuries before European contact. Modern soil carbon amendments are not the same material, but they draw on a related principle: stable carbon can help create structure that holds water, nutrients, and biological activity in the soil.
See how we workHow agreements work
Two steps, and the first binds you to nothing.
You sign one page saying you are interested and want us working for you, and you can end it any time in writing. When a program fits your ground and money is committed, that program has its own agreement with its own terms, and you decide then.
What this costs you
We build the value of your soil, which builds the value of your land.
In exchange, we find the funding, and we source and apply the material. The first conversation and the first check cost you nothing. If a program fits your ground and you choose us, that program's written agreement spells out who pays for what before any work starts.
More questions, answered plainlyFor farmers, ranchers and landowners
Tell us what is happening on your ground.
Start with the two-minute producer form. If you are looking at the current USDA soil carbon path, the readiness check can help you prepare for the next conversation.
Programs open and close on their own schedule, not ours. The paperwork is the slow part, so the reason to start now is that it is already done when a window opens.
A private company, a public process
Clear about our role.
Native Ground is a private company. We are not USDA, NRCS, FSA, another government agency, a private funder, or a tribal government, and we do not act on behalf of any of them. The applicable program or funder makes its own decisions.
About the carbon in our name
The carbon in our name is the carbon in your soil.
Native Ground does not create, register, broker or sell carbon credits. If a program you enter has its own terms about carbon rights, those terms live in that program's agreement, and you read them before you sign.