U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced this week (April 14, 2025) the cancellation of the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities (PCSC) after a line-by-line review. She was on a dairy farm in Lebanon, Pennsylvania listening and addressing ag trade, workforce, the line-by-line review of the Dec. 2024 draft Dietary Guidelines, and she put her full support behind the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act.
In the press announcement about the PCSC, a primary reason cited for its cancellation was the majority of projects had “sky-high administration fees which in many instances provided less than half of the federal funding directly to farmers.” Select projects may continue if it is demonstrated that a significant amount of the federal funds awarded will go to farmers.
“The Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities initiative was largely built to advance the green new scam at the benefit of NGOs, not American farmers. The concerns of farmers took a backseat,” Sec. Rollins stated. “We continue to support farmers and encourage partners to ensure their projects are farmer focused or re-apply to continue work that is aligned with the priorities of this Administration.”
The PCSC is being reformed as the Advancing Markets for Producers (AMP) initiative. Partners will be contacted and re-applications will be reviewed on three “Farmer First” policy priorities:
- A minimum of 65% of federal funds must go to producers;
- Grant recipients must have enrolled at least one producer as of 12/31/2024; and
- Grant recipients must have made a payment to at least one producer as of 12/31/2024.
Read the full USDA announcement here
Comments