USDA is now accepting project applications for fiscal year 2022

The US Department of Agriculture has announced its partnership for climate-smart Commodities opportunity, which would finance pilot projects to create market opportunities for U.S. agricultural and forestry products that use climate-smart practices and include innovative, cost-effective ways to measure and verify greenhouse gas benefits.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, announces the expansion of the market by investing $1 billion in partnerships to support America’s climate-smart farmers, ranchers and forest landowners, confirms Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack at Lincoln University.

“America’s farmers, ranchers, and forest owners are leading the way in implementing climate-smart solutions across their operations,” said Vilsack.

“Through Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, USDA will provide targeted funding to meet national and global demand and expand market opportunities for climate-smart commodities to increase the competitive advantage of American producers. We want a broad array of agriculture and forestry to see themselves in this effort, including small and historically underserved producers as well as early adopters.

For the purposes of this funding opportunity, a climate-smart commodity is defined as an agricultural commodity that is produced using agricultural (farming, ranching or forestry) practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or sequester carbon.

Funding will be provided to partners through the USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation for pilot projects to provide incentives to producers and landowners to:

Implement climate-smart production practices, activities, and systems on working lands,

2. Measure/quantify, monitor and verify the carbon and greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits associated with those practices, and

3. Develop markets and promote the resulting climate-smart commodities.