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Field to Market Submits Extensive Proposal for the USDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Funding Opportunity

May 10, 2022

Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture submitted its bold proposal for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities funding opportunity on May 5, 2022. Field to Market’s proposal, centered around the creation of the Climate-Smart Agriculture Innovative Finance Initiative (the Initiative), will use innovative finance mechanisms to accelerate climate-smart practice uptake by farmers, leveraging private sector demand to strengthen markets for climate-smart commodities.

With its proposal, Field to Market received and submitted 72 letters of support from organizations across the agricultural value chain, and from each of Field to Market’s membership sectors. Upon receipt of the grant, project partners committed to contributing up to $137 million in matching funds to provide technical assistance and additional financial incentives to participating producers, tying climate-smart practices to commodity purchases, and creating a scalable model for private sector investment.

“We are extremely proud of our proposal and the support it has received from Field to Market members and non-members alike, as well as the potential it has to drive lasting change in production practices by demonstrating markets for climate-smart commodities,” said Field to Market President Scott Herndon.

Through the Initiative, Field to Market will deploy $75.5 million of USDA funds as catalytic capital to increase availability of innovative finance and incentive strategies that reduce the financial and agronomic risks for farmers in adopting climate-smart practices, of which $30 million will go specifically to support Black and Native producers, through key partnerships with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund, the Intertribal Agriculture Council and Akiptan.

“The Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund is excited about this opportunity to partner with Field to Market to give our Black farmers, landowners and cooperatives the necessary resources to lead the adoption of climate-smart practices throughout the Southeast,” said Cornelius Blanding, Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund Executive Director. “Climate-smart agricultural practices will only be effective in our country if all farmers, especially farmers who have been historically excluded from these critical programs, are a part of the solution.”

“The Intertribal Agriculture Council promotes the original land stewards of this nation and we value Field to Market’s insight that innovative financing & incentive strategies are instrumental in the success for Native producers to adopt climate-smart practices and to elevate Native producers’ operations that have always been climate-smart,” said Tomie Peterson, Intertribal Agriculture Council Regenerative Economies Specialist.

“This Initiative will make great strides in assisting small and historically underserved producers,” said Skya Ducheneaux, Akiptan Executive Director. “Akiptan is exited to partner with Field to Market to help provide Native producers with climate-smart operating loans, technical assistance and greater market access for climate-smart commodities.”

Field to Market and its partners estimate the first phase of the pilot project will enable approximately 4,400 producers to adopt or expand climate-smart practices such as cover crops, low- or no-till, nutrient management and/or enhanced efficiency fertilizers on an estimated 6.4 million acres in 32 states, with an average economic benefit to producers of more than $18 per acre, generating emissions reductions of about two million tons of CO2e per year as well as local improvements to water quality, soil health, biodiversity and climate resilience. The second phase of the pilot project will allow the Initiative to leverage additional private and USDA dollars to reach thousands more farmers and millions more acres – and offer the opportunity for even more Field to Market members to participate.

The proposal builds from the work of Field to Market’s Innovative Finance Standing Committee, which published the report Financial Innovations to Accelerate Sustainable Agriculture: Blueprints for the Value Chain earlier this year.

“The Climate-Smart Agriculture Innovative Finance Initiative will accelerate the use of innovative finance to reward farmers for the value they generate with climate-smart agriculture. By combining the efforts of the finance sector and agriculture value chain, the initiative will tackle farmers’ barriers to change directly and support them in implementing climate-smart agriculture profitably,” said Maggie Monast, co-chair of the Innovative Finance Standing Committee and Senior Director of Climate-Smart Agriculture at Environmental Defense Fund.

The Initiative is designed to continue incentivizing producers well beyond the project period, and it will generate valuable insights to spur future actions by project partners, the broader finance community and USDA to encourage the production and marketing of climate-smart commodities.

“The transition to climate-smart agricultural practices requires financial investment and creative risk sharing mechanisms to achieve widespread adoption beyond the early adopters,” said Field to Market Board Chair Brandon Hunnicut. “We applaud USDA for this effort, which has caused the entire agricultural value chain to think outside the box and forge new partnerships. Many producers cannot undertake the initial steps toward climate-smart agriculture alone and we are excited about the far-reaching climate benefits that can be achieved through the efforts of thousands of farmers on millions of acres potentially enabled by our proposal.”

ABOUT FIELD TO MARKET

Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture® brings together a diverse group of grower organizations; agribusinesses; food, feed, beverage, restaurant, and retail companies; conservation groups; universities and public sector partners to focus on defining, measuring, and advancing the sustainability of food, feed, fiber, and fuel production. Field to Market comprises around 200 members representing all facets of the U.S. agricultural supply chain, with members employing more than 5 million people and representing combined revenues totaling over $1.5 trillion. 

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“We are extremely proud of our proposal and the support it has received from Field to Market members and non-members alike, as well as the potential it has to drive lasting change in production practices by demonstrating markets for climate-smart commodities,” said Field to Market President Scott Herndon.

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