USDA Highlights Success of Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities

Effort helps farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners implement climate-smart production practices

PUBLISHED ON October 18, 2024

HERSHEY, Pa. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) celebrated the ongoing success of the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, a historic and innovative funding opportunity that expands markets for commodities produced using climate-smart production methods. This effort is helping farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners implement climate-smart production practices on working lands to build soil health, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, sequester carbon, enhance productivity and build revenue.

Today, as organizations participating in Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities projects gathered in Hershey, PA, at the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Learning Network meeting, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack highlighted the initiative’s success to date in building market opportunities for climate-smart commodities and connecting producers with the tools they need to combat the challenges of climate change while reaching new markets and generating new income.

“Through our Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, we are working to create an economy that supports rural communities, meets global demand for renewable and climate-smart goods, and achieves our climate goals,” said Secretary Vilsack. “Today we are celebrating tangible results from the historic effort, and continuing to move the ball forward on climate-smart innovation and the creation of new markets and income opportunities, especially for small and mid-sized farming operations.”

In conjunction with today’s celebration, USDA released a progress report highlighting the successes of Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. Since its creation in September 2022, USDA has invested $3.03 billion in 135 projects that have:

• Connected over 14,000 farms to climate-smart markets, premiums and incentives. By providing producers new markets and financial incentives to implement climate smart practices, USDA is helping build more economically and environmentally resilient operations. Of the producers participating in Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, 43% are small and underserved producers.
• Enrolled over 3.2 million acres of working land into climate-smart practices. Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities provides financial and technical assistance specifically for climate-smart practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon. 46% of enrolled producers had prior experience with climate-smart practices, meaning over half of participants are new to climate-smart agriculture.
• Sequestered over 400,000 metric tons of carbon, with over 60 million tons estimated by project completion. Climate and environmental benefits associated with climate-smart practice progressively build over time. Projects are using a variety of direct measurement tools on the ground and testing nearly 50 different greenhouse gas models to verify results.
• Made over 40 climate-smart commodities available to consumers, including rice, beef, yogurt, milk, coffee, beer, vodka, rye whiskey, bourbon, and gin. Projects have also produced low-carbon biofuels, including sustainable aviation fuel. More products will come online soon, allowing consumers and farmers alike to access new markets for climate-smart commodities.

These results show strong early progress toward the cumulative goals for the 5-year projects.

Read the Progress Report (PDF, 1.2 MB).

Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities in Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, 29 projects are helping producers of 48 major commodities implement climate-smart practices and access new markets. With over $907 million in federal funding, the projects are leveraging the greenhouse gas benefits of climate-smart commodity products and provide direct, meaningful benefits to production agriculture in Pennsylvania, including small and underserved producers.

At the gathering in Hershey, Secretary Vilsack highlighted several of these projects:

• In central Pennsylvania, dairy farmers are participating in a project led by Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship where they are using a unique PaddockTrac tool to them manage their herds sustainably. The tool helps connect farmers to digital marketing of their climate-smart milk products that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Another project led by the Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture is bringing together 20 farming and agroforestry organizations, serving over 20,000 small to mid- scale and underserved farmers to produce climate-smart fruits, vegetables and specialty crops and leveraging innovative data tracking and mapping tools to market commodities.
• A project led by Farm Journal is expanding climate-smart markets for specialty crops, beef, pork and other commodities while incentivizing Pennsylvania farmers to implement practices like cover crops and grazing management, and providing technical assistance and data-management support to track outcomes.
• The Conservation Innovation Fund is helping dairy, beef and poultry producers in the mid-Atlantic region expand climate-smart markets and integrate climate-smart practices into beef, dairy and grain supply chains, with a focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Conservation Innovation Fund recently announced the second round of farm enrollment for this project.

Other projects that Secretary Vilsack highlighted today in Hershey include:

• The Iowa Soybean Association’s Midwest Climate-Smart Community Program was one of the first operational, and now has over 1800 farms enrolled in climate-smart production. The resulting corn, soy, sugar beats and wheat supply insetting markets where corporate entities aim to reduce their greenhouse gas footprint.
• A project let by TH Cattle Company is quantifying the soil and biomass impacts of climate-smart ranching practices and rewarding livestock producers through premiums for added-value beef. Over 5,000 acres of ranchland are participating by implementing climate-smart grazing practices that will enable access to these markets.

Background: Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities

USDA first announced details of the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities opportunity in February 2022. The design of this opportunity was informed by over 400 comments received in a Request for Information published in September 2021. Through this new opportunity, USDA finances partnerships to support the production and marketing of climate-smart commodities via a set of pilot projects lasting one to five years.

USDA received over 1,000 proposals from more than 500 groups, totaling over $20 billion in requests for funding. In September 2022, Secretary Vilsack announced USDA would be investing up to $2.8 billion in 70 selected projects under the first pool of the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities funding opportunity. In December 2022, he announced $325 million would be invested in an additional 71 projects under the second funding pool, which was focused on small and underserved producers.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

–USDA