The US Department of Agriculture will invest nearly $3 billion (€3 billion) in projects to reduce climate-harming emissions from farming and forestry, tripling the funding it had initially envisioned for the programme, the agency has announced.
The investment is part of a broader effort by the administration of President Joe Biden to decarbonise the US economy within decades and make the United States a leader in the fight against global climate change.
Farming generates nearly 10% of US greenhouse gas emissions, according to Environmental Protection Agency data.
"This will allow the US agriculture and forest industry to take a leadership role internationally," said agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack on a call with reporters on Tuesday. "This is a really big day for American agriculture."
Emissions
The programme will fund 70 projects across 50 states and Puerto Rico that would encourage farmers to cut emissions in various ways. This would include planting cover crops to enhance soil health and absorb carbon, improving manure management to cut methane emissions, and collecting data on environmentally friendly beef and bison grazing practices.
USDA first announced in February that it would spend $1 billion (€1 billion) on the effort, which it dubbed the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities programme.
But after receiving 1,050 applications requesting more than $20 billion (€20 billion) in funding - far more than the agency anticipated - it turned to the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) for more money, Vilsack said.
The CCC is a pool of funds provided by the US Treasury to support the farm economy.
The projects announced on Wednesday will receive $2.8 billion (€2.8 billion) and range in size from $5 million (€5 million) to $100 million (€100 million). The private sector has pledged an additional $1.4 billion (€1.4 billion) for the projects, Vilsack said.
The agency said it will announce a second round of funding later this year for additional climate-related projects.
News by Reuters, edited by ESM – your source for the latest supply chain news. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine
