The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing up to $2.8 billion in 70 selected projects under the first pool of the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities funding opportunity, with projects from the second funding pool to be announced later this year. Ultimately, USDA’s anticipated investment will triple to more than $3 billion in pilots that will create market opportunities for American commodities produced using climate-smart production practices. These initial projects will expand markets for climate-smart commodities, leverage the greenhouse gas benefits of climate-smart commodity production and provide direct, meaningful benefits to production agriculture, including for small and underserved producers. Applicants submitted more than 450 project proposals in this first funding pool, and the strength of the projects identified led USDA to increase its investment in this opportunity from the initial $1 billion Vilsack announced earlier this year.
“There is strong and growing interest in the private sector and among consumers for food that is grown in a climate-friendly way,” said Vilsack. “Through today’s announcement of initial selections for the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, USDA is delivering on our promise to build and expand these market opportunities for American agriculture and be global leaders in climate-smart agricultural production. This effort will increase the competitive advantage of U.S. agriculture both domestically and internationally, build wealth that stays in rural communities and support a diverse range of producers and operation types.”
South Dakota projects receiving funding are:
- ADM and Partners’ Climate-Smart Solutions–This project will utilize incentive payments to thousands of producers across 15 state to adopt and implement climate smart agriculture (CSA). Part of the project will include engagement of ADM’s 5,000 underserved producers to promote CSA opportunities, resulting in significant greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions and removals. Leading partner: Archer -Daniels-Midland
Major Partners: ARTCO (wholly owned ADM subsidiary), Costco, DKY, EarthOptics, Farmers Business Network, Field to Market, Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District, Food Works Group, Iowa State University, Purdue University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Keurig-Dr. Pepper, Mid-America Biofuels (ADM Joint Venture), National Black Growers Council, Practical Farmers of Iowa.
Major Commodities: Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, Peanuts, Sorghum, Flax, Hemp, Canola, Edible Beans, Pulse Crops
Approximate Funding Ceiling: $90,000,000 - Climate Beneficial Fiber: Building New, Accessible, and Equitable Market Opportunities for Climate-Smart Cotton and Wool –This project will expand the existing Climate Beneficial™ fiber program: a system for sequestering carbon, regenerating soil health and resilience, improving social equity, and bolstering America’s ability to produce fiber. A newly created, open-source, Carbon Farm Planning and Verification Platform will streamline climate smart agriculture planning and verification for producers, verifiers, and supply chain stakeholders.
Lead Partner: National Center for Appropriate Technology, Inc.
Major Partners: National Center for Appropriate Technology, Carbon Cycle Institute, Colorado State University Dept of Soil and Crop Sciences, Fibershed, Seed 2 Shirt, New York Textile Lab
Major Commodities: Sheep, Cotton
Approximate Funding Ceiling: $30,000,000 - Climate Change –This project will expand climate-smart markets and help finance partnerships and incentivize farmers to advance the Organic Valley Carbon Insetting Program. Organic Valley will use two strategies to reduce supply chain emissions: mitigate GHG emissions and maximize opportunities for carbon sequestration, focusing specifically on dairy and eggs as the climate-smart commodities.
Lead Partner: Cooperative Regions of Organic Producer Pools
Major Partners: Good Company, SustainCERT, PUR Project, Yardstick, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Planet Labs, American Farmland Trust, Organic Trade Association, The Organic Center, Agrilab Technologies, Inc., Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Amicus Solar Cooperative, Carissa Stein Consulting, GDS Engineering, Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District, Interlace Commons, Sarah Flack Consulting, Savanna Institute, Sonoma Resource Conservation District, Trees for Graziers, Stonyfield Organic, Nancy’s Organic/Springfield Creamery, General Mills/Annie’s
Major Commodities: Dairy, Eggs
Approximate Funding Ceiling: $25,000,000 - Climate SMART (Scaling Mechanisms for Agriculture’s Regenerative Transformation) –This project, which will reach across 28 states, aims to catalyze a self-sustaining, market-based network to broaden farmer access, scale adoption of climate-smart practices, and sustainably produce grain and dairy commodities with verified and quantified climate benefits.
Lead Partner: Truterra, LLC.
Major Partners: Ag Gateway, Biofiltro, Continuum Ag, ESRI, Equilibrium Capital, Farmobile, FarmRaise, John Deere, La Crosse Seed, Macquarie, Microsoft, Northern Star Seed, Sound Ag, Strand Gard Stewardship, WinField United, American Farmland Trust, Black Family Land Trust, Farm Credit Council, Federation of Southern Cooperatives, Minorities in Ag, Natrl. Res. & Related Sciences, Soil Health Institute, Butcher Box, Campbell Soup, Green Plains, Hershey, Land O’Lakes Dairy Foods, Nestle Purina, Perdue, Primient, Tate & Lyle, Cloud Ag, Colorado State Univ., SustainCert & 50 ag retail coops.
Major Commodities: Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, Cotton, Dairy
Approximate Funding Ceiling: $90,000,000 - Climate-Smart Specialty Grains and Oilseeds: Covering America from Coast to Coast–Covering America from Coast to Coast: This project increases on-farm crop rotations via a holistic management soil health protocol that result in identity preserved specialty grains and oilseeds, as well as a new category of climate-smart cover crop seed. The climate-smart (CS) specialty grains and oilseeds project will encourage farmers in the Northern Great Plains and Upper Midwest to raise oats, rye, flax, buckwheat, and winter camelina.
Lead Partner: Millborn Seeds, Inc.
Major Partners: AgSpire, EarthOptics, High Plains Biochar, Biochar Co-Op, Value Added Agriculture Development Center, Grain Millers Inc., Iowa Cover Crop
Major Commodities: Oats, Rye, Flax, Buckwheat, Camelina
Approximate Funding Ceiling: $35,000,000 - Connected Ag Climate-Smart Commodities Pilot Project–This project will expand climate-smart markets for many agricultural commodities and provide direct payments, technical assistance, and data management strategies to producers of row crops, beef, dairy, pork, and other commodities to adopt climate-smart practices and strategies.
Lead Partner: Farm Journal, Inc
Major Partners: Tuskegee University, Association of Equipment Manufacturers, AGI/Farmobile, AgriWebb, Certis Biologicals, Ducks Unlimited, Farm Journal Foundation, National Pork Board, SIMPAS, The Sustainability Consortium, Trimble
Major Commodities: Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, Cotton, Potatoes, Beef, Dairy, Pork, Small Ruminants, Specialty Crops
Approximate Funding Ceiling: $40,000,000 - Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative Farmer-led Climate Smart Commodities Initiative: Building Success from the Ground Up–This project will expand climate-smart markets and establish dairy and sugar as climate-smart commodities by implementing climate-smart production practices, improving business practices, improving business practices for climate-smart commodities, and making use of data and information collected to inform future standards.
Lead Partner: Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative
Major Partners: Farmers for Sustainable Food, The Nature Conservancy, WI Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, Clean Wisconsin, Agropur, Headwaters Agriculture Sustainability Partnership, Center for Farm Financial Management, Southwest Wisconsin Technical College, AgCentric – MN Farm Business Management, Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, Houston Engineering, Inc., Farmobile, U.S. Beet Sugar Association, American Sugar Beet Growers Association, University of Wisconsin-Madison/Extension
Major Commodities: Dairy, Sugarbeets
Approximate Funding Ceiling: $50,000,000 - Expanding Agroforestry Production & Markets –This project will build climate-smart markets and increase capital investments in tree planting that will increase the supply of agroforestry commodities utilizing a network of leaders in forestry. Working directly with manufacturers and retailers to connect potential buyers with producers (including underserved producers).
Lead Partner: The Nature Conservancy
Major Partners: Propagate, Savanna Institute, Tuskegee University, University of MO Center for Agroforestry, VA Tech, Hawai’i ‘Ulu Cooperative, Appalachian Sustainable Development, Canopy Farm Management, Cargill, Handsome Brook Farm, NY Tree Crop Alliance, Practical Farmers of IA, Resource Environmental Solutions, Sustainable Farming Association, Trees Forever, Trees for Graziers, University of Illinois, Association For Temperate Agroforestry, Osage Nation, Agroforestry Partners, Live Oak Bank, Walnut Level Capital, Yard Stick, Propagate, Working Trees, University of Hawaii, Cargill, Danone, Applegate, Epic Institute, General Mills, Current Cassis, Hawaii Ulu Cooperative, Simple Mills, Hawaii Foodservice Alliance, 1890 Consortium, AgLaunch Early Adopter Network, Lincoln University, and Tuskegee University
Major Commodities: Nuts, Berries, Beef, Fruit Trees, Forest Products
Approximate Funding Ceiling: $60,000,000 - Farmers for Soil Health Climate Smart Commodities Partnership–This projects proposes to accelerate long-term cover crop adoption by creating a platform to incentivize farmers. The platform will quantify, verify and facilitate the sale of ecosystem benefits, creating a marketplace to generate demand for climate smart commodities.
Lead Partner: National Fish & Wildlife Foundation
Major Partners: Farmers for Soil Health (National Corn Growers Association, the United Soybean Board, and the National Pork Board), National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, National Center for Appropriate Technology, National Association of Conservation Districts, Soil Health Institute, University of Missouri, Sustainability Consortium, Data Transmission Network, The Walton Family Foundation
Major Commodities: Corn, Soybeans
Approximate Funding Ceiling: $95,000,000 - Low Carbon Beef USDA Pilot Program: A Fully Integrated Lifecycle Approach to Reduce GHG Emissions from Beef Cattle at Commercial Scale–This project will help to implement climate-smart methods in beef production, reducing GHG emissions and generating carbon credit revenue for producers.
Lead Partner: Low Carbon Beef LLC.
Major Partners: Low Carbon Beef, ABS Global, Where Food Comes From Inc, AgSpire and Millborn Seeds Inc, Tiffany Cattle Co Inc, Missouri Prime Beef Packers, Alga Biosciences, Vytelle USA, Elanco Animal Health Inc, Helical Solar Solutions LLC
Major Commodities: Beef, Grass
Approximate Funding Ceiling: $10,000,000 - Midwest Climate-Smart Commodity Program–This project will provide funding to farmers via outcome-based contracts for the reduction and removal of carbon dioxide through the adoption of new climate-smart practices. The remaining project funding will support farmer enrollment assistance, carbon quantification, technical assistance support, measurement, reporting and verification, and underserved farmer outreach and enrollment.
Lead Partner: Iowa Soybean Association
Major Partners: ReHarvest Partners, PepsiCo, Cargill, Renewable Energy Group, Ingredion, Target, JBS, Coca-Cola, Mano y Ola, FarmRaise, Rural Community Assistance Partnership
Major Commodities: Corn, Soybeans, Wheat
Approximate Funding Ceiling: $95,000,000 - Strengthening Grassroots Leadership & Capacity to Scale Climate-Smart Production Systems and Facilitate Historically Underserved Producers’ Access to Markets–This project will work through its network of 3,000 conservation districts throughout the nation to grow and advance grassroots efforts to ensure producers and local communities are prepared to meet the demand and have access to climate-smart commodity markets.
Lead Partner: National Association of Conservation Districts
Major Partners: Indian Nations Conservation Alliance (INCA), Rural Coalition, the Kansas Black Farmers Association, and the Rural Advancement Fund of the National Sharecroppers Fund. Additional partners include the Ecosystem Services Market Consortium (ESMC), Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, HabiTerre, Cornell University Atkinson Center for Sustainability
Major Commodities: Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, Sorghum, Rice, Livestock
Approximate Funding Ceiling: $90,000,000 - The Climate-Smart Agriculture Innovative Finance Initiative –This project, covering more than 30 states, will use innovative finance mechanisms to accelerate climate-smart practice uptake by farmers, leveraging private sector demand to strengthen markets for climate-smart commodities. Partners will provide technical assistance and additional financial incentives to a diverse array of producers across a range of commodities, tying climate-smart practices to commodity purchases and creating a scalable model for private sector investment.
Lead Partner: Field to Market
Major Partners: Akiptan & Intertribal Agriculture Council, Federation of Southern Cooperatives/ Land Assistance Fund, PepsiCo, Farmers Business Network, EDF, Archer Daniels Midland, Illinois Corn Growers Association, PCM, Illinois Corn Growers Association, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Growers Edge, Mondelēz, Michigan State University, Coop Elevator
Major Commodities: Corn, Soybeans, Cotton, Peanuts, Wheat, Potatoes, Barley, Sorghum, Alfalfa, Peanuts, Rice, Sugarbeets, Livestock
Approximate Funding Ceiling: $70,000,000 - The GEVO Climate-Smart Farm-to-Flight Program–The project aims to create critical structural market incentives for low carbon-intensity (CI) corn as well as to accelerate the production of sustainable aviation fuel to reduce the sector’s dependency on fossil-based fuel. This project includes an immediate market opportunity to sell climate-smart, low-climate-impact corn.
Lead Partner: Gevo, Inc.
Major Partners: Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy, LLC, Google, Farmers Edge, EarthOptics, South Dakota State University, Regen Ag Labs, Yard Stick, Double H Ag Services, Farmers Edge, AgSpire, PrairieFood, Stine Seed Farm, Holganix, Trace Genomics, MidState Agronomy, Double H Ag Services, Colorado State University, Iowa State University, Standing Rock (SAGE) Renewable Energy Power Authority
Major Commodities: Corn
Approximate Funding Ceiling: $30,000,000 - The Grass is Greener on the Other Side: Developing Climate-Smart Beef and Bison Commodities–This project will create market opportunities for beef and bison producers who utilize climate-smart agriculture grazing & land management practices. The project will guide & educate producers on climate-smart practices most suited for their operations, manage large-scale climate-smart data that will be used by producers to improve decision-making, and directly impact market demand for climate-smart beef/bison commodity markets. Lead university: South Dakota State University
Major Partners: South Dakota State extension, SDSU Center for Excellence for Bison Studies, National Bison Association, Agspire, Tanka fund, Buffalo Ridge Cattle Company, Cold Creek Buffalo Company, MIllborn Seeds, SmartScore.ai, Yard Stick, Texas A & M, C-Lock
Major Commodities: Beef, Bison
Approximate Funding Ceiling: $80,000,000 - The Growing GRASS & Climate-Smart Value-Added U.S. Commodity Markets Project (Growing GRASS Project)–This multi-year project will pilot, test and evaluate how the GRASS supply chain can be optimized for value and climate performance from farm and ranch to markets, starting with the greenhouse gas benefits of grazing systems.
Lead Partner: American Sustainable Business Institute Inc.
Major Partners: Roots of Change, CA Cattlemen’s Association, American Grassfed Association, Pure Strategies, UC Davis Food Systems Lab, IC-Foods, Autocase, Health Research Institute Labs, Other Half Processing SBC, Regenerative Rising, Lookin.to, Textile Exchange,
Major Commodities: Beef
Approximate Funding Ceiling: $35,000,040 - The Partnership to Define Climate-Smart Commodities Impact and Unlock Consumer Demand (TSIP Partnership for Impact and Demand) –This project will buld climate-smart markets and streamline field data collection and combine sample results with modeling to make impact quantifications accurate and locally specific but also scalable. Targeted farms produce value-added and direct-to-consumer specialty crops as well as the 19 most common row crops in the United States.
Lead Partner: The Meridian Institute
Major Partners: The Soil Inventory Project, Corteva Agriscience, Jackson Family Wines, Cakebread Cellars, A to Z Wineworks, Medlock Ames, Ridge Vineyards, Hunt Country Vineyards, Silver Oak & Twomey Cellars, Spottswoode Estate and Vineyard & Winery, Crimson Wine Group, The Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming, Nature4Justice, Vayda
Major Commodities: Grapes, Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, Row Crops, Specialty Crops
Approximate Funding Ceiling: $20,000,000 - Transforming the Farmer-to-Consumer Supply Chain with Climate Smart Agriculture Partnerships–This program will focus on creating end-to-end supply chain partnerships to optimize the value of climate smart commodities, focusing on dairy feedstock and including a manure management component.
Lead Partner: Carbon A List LLC
Major Partners: Danone North America, over 350 independent U.S. Farmers, Target, Sustainable Environmental Consultants (SEC), University of Wisconsin, Verra, Beck’s Superior Hybrids, Inc., Scoular, Swampy Hollow Farms, McCarty Oats, Lakeview Organic Grains
Major Commodities: Dairy, Soy, Oats
Approximate Funding Ceiling: $70,000,000 - Tyson Foods, Inc. Climate-Smart Commodities Project –This project will expand climate-smart markets and increase carbon sequestration and reduce emissions in the production of beef and row crops for livestock feed. Small and underserved producers will receive technical assistance and incentive payments to increase their capacity to reduce emissions and adopt climate-smart practices.
Lead Partner: Tyson Foods, Inc
Major Partners: Tyson, Bayer, USFRA, Griffith Foods, Scoular, Landus, ALCC, McDonald’s, Deloitte Consulting, Where Food Comes From, Iowa Select, WBCSD, Native American Tribal Communities.
Major Commodities: Beef, Poultry, Pork, Corn
Approximate Funding Ceiling: $60,000,000
Earlier this year, Vilsack announced that USDA had allocated $1 billion for the program, divided into two funding pools. Because of the unprecedented demand and interest in the program, and potential for meaningful opportunities to benefit producers through the proposals, the Biden-Harris administration increased the total funding allocation to more than $3 billion, with projects from the second funding pool to be announced later this year. Vilsack made the announcement from the campus of Penn State University, which is the lead partner on one of the selected pilot projects to implement climate-smart practices, quantify and track the greenhouse gas benefits and develop markets for the resulting climate-smart commodities.
Funding for Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities will be delivered through USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation in two pools. Projects announced today are from the first funding pool, which included proposals seeking funds ranging from $5 million to $100 million. USDA received over 450 proposals from more than 350 entities for this funding pool, including nonprofit organizations; for-profits and government entities; farmer cooperatives; conservation, energy and environmental groups; state, tribal and local governments; universities (including minority serving institutions); small businesses; and large corporations. Applications covered every state in the nation as well as tribal lands, D.C. and Puerto Rico. The tentative selections announced today reflect this broad set of applicants and geographic scope, and the proposals include plans to match on average over 50% of the federal investment with nonfederal funds.
USDA will work with the applicants for the 70 identified projects to finalize the scope and funding levels in the coming months. A complete list of projects identified for this first round of funding is available at usda.gov/climate-smart-
The projects will deliver significant impacts for producers and communities nationwide. USDA anticipates that these projects will result in:
- Hundreds of expanded markets and revenue streams for producers and commodities across agriculture ranging from traditional corn to specialty crops.
- More than 50,000 farms reached, encompassing more than 20-25 million acres of working land engaged in climate-smart production practices such as cover crops, no-till and nutrient management.
- More than 50 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent sequestered over the lives of the projects. This is equivalent to removing more than 10 million gasoline-powered passenger vehicles from the road for one year.
- More than 50 universities, including multiple minority-serving institutions, engaged and helping advance projects, especially with outreach and monitoring, measurement, reporting and verification.
- Proposals for the 70 selected projects include plans to match on average over 50% of the federal investment with nonfederal funds.
Projects were selected based on a range of criteria, with emphasis placed on greenhouse gas and/or carbon sequestration benefits and equity. The Notice of Funding Opportunity included a complete set of project proposal requirements and evaluation criteria.
USDA is currently evaluating project proposals from the second Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities funding pool, which includes funding requests from $250,000 to $4,999,999. Projects from this second funding pool will emphasize the enrollment of small and/or underserved producers, and/or monitoring, reporting and verification activities developed at minority-serving institutions. USDA expects to announce these selections later this Fall.
Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities is part of USDA’s broader strategy to position agriculture and forestry as leaders in climate change mitigation through voluntary, incentive-based, market-driven approaches. Visit usda.gov/climate-smart-
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