Photo credits: USDA Justin Pius
In response to shifting weather patterns and more severe extreme weather events, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is stepping up its efforts to help American producers fight the effects of climate change. For fiscal year 2025, USDA has allocated up to $7.7 billion to help farmers, ranchers, and foresters adopt conservation practices on working lands. This funding is more than double the amount available for 2024 and represents the most conservation assistance ever offered in a single year for popular USDA conservation programs.
The funding includes $2 billion in Farm Bill funding and up to $5.7 billion made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act, part of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda. Since implementation began in 2023, the Inflation Reduction Act has helped more than 28,500 farmers and ranchers apply conservation to 361 million acres of land during the past two years.
“Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, America’s producers have additional funding available to them for conservation programs and climate-smart practices. We continue to see record demand for these programs, and we’re confident that we can continue to get the support out to conservation-minded producers,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “This funding will be used to maximize climate benefits across the country while also providing other important conservation and operational benefits, which will lead to economic opportunity for producers, and more productive soil, cleaner water and air, healthier wildlife habitat, greater connectivity, and natural resource conservation for future generations.”