Field to Market: the Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture has received USDA funding to provide financial support to U.S. farmers and accelerate their adoption of climate-smart agriculture. The multi-million-dollar Climate-Smart Agriculture Innovative Finance Initiative (The Initiative), part of USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Grant Program, will provide $81 million to producers, cover around 4.3 million hectares (10.6 million acres), and reduce GHG emissions by an estimated 2.79 million metric tons.
“We are incredibly grateful to both the USDA and our partners for their support of The Initiative,” says Field to Market President Scott Herndon.“By pairing innovative finance mechanisms with technical assistance, our project will support producers in adopting or expanding climate-smart practices while increasing the supply of climate-smart commodities for the supply chain.”
The initiative will use $70M in grant funds from USDA, $66M in matching funds, and $40M in leveraged funds from industry, a portion of which will be allocated to support Black and Native producers. It will include eight different projects involving various partners, such as the Intertribal Agriculture Council, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the National Association of Conservation Districts.