USDA Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced an unprecedented initiative that aims to expand markets and strengthen rural America by providing targeted funding to projects that implement and monitor climate-smart practices on farms, ranches, and forests.
This significant investment directly finances projects that will improve soil health, water quality, and biodiversity as well as fund the research required to verify greenhouse gas reductions and create market opportunities. Click here for more information.
Growing, Marketing, and Measuring the Climate-Smart Impacts of Organic Grain & Field Crops
Marbleseed, and its partners, have been awarded grant funding through the Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities to implement a multistate project that will engage a diverse set of organic grain producers. Each participating producer will receive an enrollment incentive for the duration of the project that will cost-share the expenses associated with implementing climate-smart agriculture practices. Producers will be supported by field service coordinators who will provide technical assistance, education, and collect and monitor data associated with greenhouse gas emission reductions and ecosystem services benefits. Additionally, marketers will assist in the development of marketing plans aimed at promoting the climate-smart commodities produced.
During this five-year project we aim to accomplish three main objectives for dozens of farmers:
Objective 1: Incentivize the adoption of climate smart organic production practices by small-scale underserved producers
Objective 2: Monitor and verify the climate smart benefits of organic production practices
Objective 3: Create and expand markets for organically produced climate-smart commodities
Project Area
Project Team
Marbleseed is fortunate to collaborate on this project with the partner organizations below:
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute
Ohio Ecological Food & Farming Association (OEFFA)
Tennessee State University (TSU)
Contact
For information about this program, contact: Mercedes Talvitie, Climate and Conservation Program Specialist, mercedes.talvitie@marbleseed.org, 715-309-5918 x707
Grant Acknowledgment
This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agreement number NR243A750004G010. USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.