USDA dumps climate-smart agri grants for pilot projects and redirects funds to farmers

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has discontinued the country’s climate-smart farming grants initiated under the Biden administration. However, select projects that align with President Trump’s government may continue under a new Advancing Markets for Producers initiative.

The agency has canceled the US$3.1 billion program — the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities (PCSC) — to promote farm products and timber grown through climate-smart practices, branding it a “slush fund.” 

The USDA said it would still reimburse recipients for expenses before April 13.

The program, which has been criticized for not directing grants directly to farmers but instead to corporate or non-profit partners, will be redesigned to pay farmers specifically.

The PCSC was initiated in February 2022 amid fanfare that it would invest US$1 billion in partnerships to support the country’s climate-smart farmers, ranchers, and forest owners. It was geared toward financing pilot projects to create market opportunities for US agricultural and forestry products using climate-smart practices.

The program was believed to have received more than 450 proposals for projects within three months of its original announcement. Biofuel, biogas, and biochar-related projects were among those selected to receive funding.

Supporting farmers

According to the USDA, it became clear that most of these projects had “sky-high administration fees,” which often provided less than half of the federal funding directly to farmers.

“Select projects may continue if it is demonstrated that a significant amount of the federal funds awarded will go to farmers. We continue to support farmers and encourage partners to ensure their projects are farmer-focused or re-apply to continue work that is aligned with the priorities of this Administration,” says an agency statement. 

“With this action, USDA is cutting bureaucratic red tape, streamlining reporting, lowering the paperwork burden on producers, and putting farmers first.” 

“The PCSC initiative was largely built to advance the green new scam at the benefit of NGOs, not American farmers,” says US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins.

“The concerns of farmers took a backseat during the Biden Administration. During my short time as Secretary, I have heard directly from our farmers that many of the USDA partnerships are overburdened by red tape, have ambiguous goals, and require complex reporting that pushes farmers onto the sidelines. We are correcting these mistakes and redirecting our efforts to set our farmers up for an unprecedented era of prosperity.”