The Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities initiative is officially underway. The program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) seeks to expand markets for goods produced through climate-smart practices. More than $3.1 billion is being invested in 141 pilot projects, which includes plans to match an average of 50 percent of federal investment. Projects will run from one to five years, with 29 projects involving 45 commodities already active. According to the project dashboard, six projects impacting 14 major commodities are underway in California.
“Farmers, ranchers and forest landowners are on the front lines of climate change. At the same time, they are uniquely positioned to deliver climate solutions through climate-smart production that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and sequesters carbon,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a news release. “Through these projects, our partners are working to create new markets for climate-smart commodities, while developing the tools needed to quantify impacts and help producers implement climate-smart practices on their land. We’re excited these projects are getting underway and look forward to achieving meaningful results for producers, agriculture and forestry economies and our climate.”
Project partners will be opening the signup period to allow for producer participation. Selected projects will provide technical and financial assistance to producers using climate-smart production practices. Projects will also develop methods for quantification, monitoring, reporting, and verification of climate benefits. More than 60 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent is projected to be sequestered through the life of the projects.
As part of the initiative, USDA is also launching the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Learning Network. The resource is intended to help project partners learn from each other in their project implementation. Expectations are for more than 60,000 farms to be reached through the initiative, with 25 million acres of working land impacted.
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