The Loess Plateau is the birthplace of Chinese agricultural civilization, which covers an area about 640,000 square kilometers and is home to about 100 million people. Since the founding of New China, the government has paid great attention to the sustainable development of the Loess Plateau. In order to consolidate the achievements of the Grain-for-Green project, the Ministry of Land and Resources and the Ministry of Finance approved in 2013 the key project "Gully filling to create farmland" in Yan’an, comprising a total surface of 506,700 mu (33,780 ha) and a total investment of 5.172 billion yuan. By 2015, the project reached an important milestone, having filled gullies in an area of 210,000 mu (14,000 ha). However, several problems for gully filling improvement still persist. Therefore, we propose to: (1) adopt non-deforestation policies for the project; (2) increase agricultural investments to build high-quality farmland; (3) scientifically manage the new created farmlands to improve efficiency; and (4) complete the assessment of the project. The "Gully filling to create farmland" project will promote a sustainable agricultural development in the Loess Plateau should all those advices be carried out.