Many of us in regenerative agriculture are still processing a 10-month season of blockbuster funding announcements aimed at scaling climate-smart systems across farms and ranches. The numbers are staggering, and the scope and pace of the work ahead are only beginning to sink in—a formidable yet exciting prospect.
It began back in November 2021 in the form of approximately $5.5 billion for the U.S. Forest Service from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for activities including wildland fire prevention and ecosystem restoration. Then this August came the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, and with it news that $38 billion for the U.S. Department of Agriculture would be used to accelerate climate-smart practice adoption across four key voluntary programs. It includes additional funding for technical assistance support and quantification of emissions. The latest major announcements began rolling out just weeks ago as Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack shared the first round of 70 Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities projects to be selected for funding—including Trust In Food’s Climate-Smart Connected Ag Project—with more projects to be named at a later date. Here at Trust In Food, I’ve been telling my team what I believe in my heart: The paradigm for climate-smart agriculture has changed. The stakes are higher, the work is more ambitious and the potential for providing material financial, technical and human dimensions support to farmers and ranchers faced with big decisions has never been greater.
To make good on these opportunities, we must recognize the rules have changed—and seek to write them as a regenerative agriculture community with a farmer- and rancher-first approach. Yes, the fundamental principles of conservation agriculture will always hold true. The science of soil health, air quality and water management will deepen as our knowledge grows, but the basics will remain.
We must approach these new dollars and new projects with a sense of guarded optimism. Farmers stand to benefit greatly, but if we aren’t careful, we risk further marginalizing the vast majority of middle adopters who are curious and open to the possibilities yet pragmatic and individual in their needs, interests and business objectives.
I’d love to hear how your organization is thinking about the tremendous opportunities ahead—and the roadmap to getting there in a way that upholds farmers and ranchers. Drop me a line at acole@farmjournal.com. Now more than ever, it’s time for our regenerative agriculture community to work together in the common interest of the American producer.
Yours in regenerative ag,
Amy Skoczlas Cole
Executive Vice President, Trust In Food™ | 