The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today that the second funding pool through the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities opportunity received over 600 applications from over 400 groups. While USDA is in the process of calculating the total requested amount for the second funding pool, the overall interest in the opportunity already exceeds more than $18 billion.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., Feb. 7, 2022 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today at Lincoln University that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is delivering on its promise to expand markets by investing $1 billion in partnerships to support America’s climate-smart farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced a $1 billion investment in partnerships to support U.S climate-smart farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.

The USDA is using the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, or EQIP, and the Conservation Stewardship Program, or CSP, to help farmers use methods such as cover crops to sequester carbon.

NRCS accepts applications for conservation programs – including EQIP and CSP – year-round, however producers and landowners should apply by state-specific, signup dates to be considered for each year’s funding. To apply, producers should contact their local USDA Service Center

United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack underscored the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s support for President Biden’s whole-of-government approach to combating climate change and creating good-paying jobs and economic growth in the United States.

Once officially launched, AIM for Climate will catalyze greater investment in agricultural R&D and innovation to help to raise global ambition and underpin more rapid and transformative climate action in all countries, including by enabling science-based and data-driven decision and policy-making.

Producers could see three new revenue streams from climate mitigation, he said. They were income from carbon markets, from conversion of agricultural waste into products ranging from chemicals to fabrics, and capture of methane from manure for use as a renewable fuel.

U.S. agriculture faces a triple imperative — market, environment, and income — in responding to climate change, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday, his first day on the job. “We don’t have a day to waste on this,” he told reporters while indicating that the USDA will move at deliberate speed to identify and support successful mitigation practices.

“A lot of these practices, while they may be good, aren’t always free or they require some investment or they require some new knowledge,” said Bonnie.