On March 14 at noon, ET, a group of farmers and ranchers will demonstrate and discuss how climate-smart agriculture programs benefit their work at an event in the Russell Senate Office building hosted by LCV Education Fund and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. They will be joined by Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, who will make remarks, and by USDA Under Secretary of Conservation Robert Bonnie, who will lead a roundtable discussion. … Read More →
climate-smart agriculture
RFA Roundup: Spring 2024 Sustainable Agriculture Funding Opportunities
USDA has announced several funding opportunities for sustainable agriculture. This blog post outlines the funding guidelines, application deadlines, and program requirements for a range of food and farm system grants funded through USDA that are currently accepting applications. The funding opportunities fall into three categories: Research and Education, Local Food (including urban and rural-focused programs) and Nutrition, Climate, Conservation, and Energy…. Read More →
Farmer Conservation Stories: Why Inflation Reduction Act Funding Must Remain Focused on Climate Change
This is the second post in a two-part blog series highlighting stories of farmers who have used practices from the Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry practice list to build climate resilience and mitigation solutions. This week’s post shares stories of how farmers are preparing for and responding to climate change. … Read More →
Building Resilience Through the Conservation Stewardship Program
A key question in the 2023 farm bill reauthorization is whether Congress will approve a bill that builds climate resilience for farmers whose livelihoods depend on it. USDA’s Conservation Stewardship Program is perhaps the single most ready-made tool for farmers to voluntarily tackle climate change. This post examines how CSP’s unique design creates greater conservation benefits than other approaches and how spending within the program shows a record of delivering support to producers ready to implement climate friendly practices on their farms…. Read More →
Release: USDA Announces Second Round of Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities Awards
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the second-round awardees of the Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities, a USDA effort to combat the climate crisis by partnering with agriculture, forestry, and rural communities to provide climate solutions that strengthen rural America. NSAC is pleased to see that the Administration’s latest round of awards will benefit more than 30 minority-serving institutions and more than 20 Tribal partners…. Read More →
$1 billion Available for Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities
Earlier this month, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it will provide $1 billion in funds from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) (15 U.S.C. 714 et seq.) to fund pilot projects aimed at “creat[ing] market opportunities for commodities produced using climate-smart practices.”… Read More →