Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities
USDA is committed to supporting a diverse range of farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners through Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. This effort will expand markets for America’s 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.
USDA is investing more than $3.1 billion in 141 projects through this effort and all of the projects that will be funded require meaningful involvement of small and underserved producers.
On September 14, 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. On December 12, 2022, he announced $325 million will be invested in an additional 71 projects under the second funding pool.
USDA will work with the awarded vendors for these identified projects to finalize the scope and funding levels in the coming months. These projects will:
- Provide technical and financial assistance to producers to implement climate-smart production practices on a voluntary basis on working lands;
- Pilot innovative and cost-effective methods for quantification, monitoring, reporting, and verification of greenhouse gas benefits; and
- Develop markets and promote the resulting climate-smart commodities.
Our Project’s Focus
SmartAgGro Pilot Program provides technical assistance and builds partnership markets for America’s Climate-Smart Farmers, & Ranchers to Strengthen U.S. Rural and Agricultural Communities. This project will implement a scalable climate-smart marketing strategy to assist underserved farmers in Mississippi Congressional District 2 and other surrounding counties of the Magnolia State to adopt climate-smart practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the production of healthy foods.
Lead Partner: Vanguard (OTE) Consortium
Major Partners: Alcorn State University, Mississippi Valley State University, Heifer-USA, Enviro-Remediation Educational Svc, LLC, Amerimac Chemical Corp, and Monroe Street Animal Clinic and Boarding Services, Inc.
Major Commodities: Livestock, Soybeans, Row Crops, Hay, and Horticultural Crops
Other Information
Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Project Summaries | USDA