Showered by “amazing” proposals, the Biden administration said it will put $3.5 billion — three times more than originally planned — into pilot projects to mitigate global warming and create markets for climate-smart commodities. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the demonstration projects would put the United States in the lead internationally in climate-smart agriculture.
The USDA announced $2.8 billion in funds for 70 projects in its Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities initiative on Wednesday, with the second round of awards expected later in the year. Private sector groups would put $1.4 billion in matching funds into the 70 projects, Vilsack said, which could involve up to 25 million acres of working farmland and sequester the equivalent of 50 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over five years.
“Consumers here and around the world want food that is sustainably produced,” said Vilsack. The pilot projects were expected to expand markets for commodities produced through climate-smart practices and boost farm revenue while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
“There are some amazing projects here,” Vilsack told reporters, and the first round of awards covers “every commodity, all states.” The projects include reduction of methane emissions by dairy farms, creating a market for bison and cattle that graze on ranches using climate-smart land management, and using innovative financial mechanisms to encourage adoption of climate-smart practices by farmers in 30 states.
President Biden has said he wants U.S. agriculture to be first in the world to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and aims to reduce overall U.S. emissions in half by 2030. Vilsack announced the climate-smart initiative last Feb. 7 at $1 billion. The USDA receive more than 1,000 proposals. Interest was so strong that larger funding was justified, said Vilsack.
Key Republican senators have questioned whether the USDA has the authority to create climate programs on its own or to dip into a $30 billion USDA reserve to pay for them, as the administration is doing with the climate-smart pilot projects.
“I think it’s going to be difficult for folks to be overly critical,” said Vilsack. Like USDA’s land stewardship programs, the projects are voluntary and incentive-based.
The USDA launched the climate-smart pilots at the same time Congress was gathering ideas for the next farm bill, due in fall 2023. “I don’t know if it will have an impact on the farm bill,” said Vilsack during a teleconference. “I think we are going to learn a lot. I think we are going to learn it soon.”
The results of the pilot projects could influence the expenditure of $20 billion earmarked for USDA conservation programs in the climate, healthcare and tax law enacted last month, he said. “It seems to me it’s a nice marriage. It’s nice timing.”
Under the law, USDA gained $8.45 billion for the cost-sharing Environmental Quality Incentives Program, $3.25 billion for the Conservation Stewardship Program for working lands, $6.75 billion for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, $1.4 billion for the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, and $1 billion for technical assistance. The money would become available over a three-year period beginning on Oct. 1 and would be available through fiscal 2031. At present, the USDA spends around $5 billion a year on conservation.
The USDA list of projects receiving funding is available here.