The purpose of the pilot program is to create new income streams for farmers who will agree to adopt work methods to improve the soil and reduce carbon emissions. In the first phase, you will finance 70 different projects in the field. A second round of funding will be announced later this year.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack initially announced that the program would distribute only one billion dollars, but later the ministry almost tripled the amount. The projects that will participate in the pilot deal, among other things, with reducing methane emissions, measuring soil quality and creating market opportunities for cattle breeders who use environmentally friendly methods. In addition, it includes financial incentives for “environmentally friendly” farmers who try to reduce carbon emissions, alongside creating a market for goods produced in more environmentally friendly ways.
The project may last up to five years, and the funding it offers ranges from $5 million to $100 million.
About 11% of greenhouse gas emissions in the US in 2020 came from the agricultural sector, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Most major agricultural companies use precision technologies to help farmers waste less resources. These include companies like John Deere, AGCO, and irrigation companies like Lindsay and Wellmont. But the pilot programs funded by the USDA are looking for ways to allow farmers to change their practices so that they can eventually absorb carbon, and remove it from the atmosphere. Erin Fitzgerald, executive director of the Farmers and Cattlemen Association, said this is a “huge” step that will help Encourage innovation in agriculture and create new markets.