Nick Offerman "Face Plants" to Show Benefits of Cover Crops

Nick Offerman and I don’t have much in common. Mr. Offerman is an actor, writer, comedian, and producer. I am none of those things. He’s best known for playing the hilariously deadpan municipal parks official Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. I am best known for trying to make the hashtag #SoilIsSexy trend on social media. But when it comes to love, we have a common interest. In a newly released minute-long video, Mr. Offerman goes below the surface and plays a nontraditional role—soil—to show how cover crops can help fight climate change. Ladies and gentlemen, I found my soil-mate.

Produced by Incredible Beast Omnimedia, the quirky video, which concludes with the tagline, "Don't treat soil like dirt," is a key part of NRDC's campaign to promote cover crops in the next Farm Bill.

The Farm Bill funds important agricultural programs including crop insurance, conservation, and nutrition assistance. The bill’s reach and breadth make it the most impactful legislation for food and agriculture in the United States. Congress is already deliberating a new version of the Farm Bill, and NRDC urges Congress to increase investments in regenerative farming practices that will help fight climate change, like cover cropping.

Congress could support cover crops by including the COVER Act in the Farm Bill, which would incentivize farmers to plant cover crops by offering them a $5 –per acre savings on their crop insurance bills. This would not only improve the health of our nation’s soil, but support biodiversity, improve water quality, and fight climate change too. Polls show strong support for cover cropping from voters and farmers.

Mr. Offerman, who was raised on a farm in Illinois, has long supported practices that contribute to a healthier planet. He also recognizes the need for wholescale changes to our agricultural system.  

“’What we have lost’ in a local sense, is simple, human respect for our citizens who live out in the country and husband our nation’s acreage,” he said in one interview. “The voracious machinery and chemical dependency of industrial agriculture not only destroys the health of our soils and our bodies, but it has proven fatal to America’s small farmers as well.”

We agree, Mr. Offerman. Thank you for supporting regenerative agriculture and cover cropping. You are literally making soil sexy.