Former Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Tier One Projects Given Approval

The USDA has given tier one projects under the former Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities (PCSC) program approval to continue, according to a lead partner on one of the projects.

In April, the USDA announced it was cancelling PCSC and renaming it the Advancing Markets for Producers (AMP) initiative. The fate of the 130 projects funded by the $3.1-billion program wasn’t clear as the USDA rolled out new criteria that the existing projects would be evaluated on.

In an exclusive interview with Successful Farming, the National Pork Board’s (NPB) Jamie Burr confirmed two of the projects given the green light to continue are the Advancing U.S. Pork Sustainability and Market Value Grant and Farmers for Soil Health Climate-Smart Commodities Partnership.

The NPB is the lead partner on the first project and a partner in Farmers for Soil Health. 

“I received a phone call from the USDA,” Burr said, who is the chief sustainability officer at NPB. “They said ‘Happy to share that you’re in tier one. We are changing the name of the program, and there will be more information to come.'”

The USDA has not released a full list of tier one projects that have received approval. According to the USDA, existing grant agreements were reviewed on these priorities:

• A minimum of 65% of federal funds must go to producers.
• Grant recipients must have enrolled at least one producer as of Dec. 31, 2024.
• Grant recipients must have made a payment to at least one producer as of Dec. 31, 2024.

The Advancing Pork Sustainability project exceeded those thresholds, according to Burr. That information had already been shared with the USDA as part of the PCSC quarterly reporting requirement. 

Those reporting requirements will be changing. “We’ve been told by the USDA that by June 20 we’ll have a new agreement signed around new reporting requirements,” Burr said. The good news is Burr does not anticipate that it will require any changes for producers who participate in the project. 

Enrollment Continues, Despite Changes

Prior to the name change, the Trump administration had frozen PCSC funds while it reviewed the program. During that time, the Advancing Pork Sustainability project continued without pause. The $35-million project receives $20 million in federal funds (previously through PCSC, now through AMP), $10 million from Nestle, and $5 million from the Pork Checkoff.

“We continued to sign contracts with producers,” Burr said. “In fact, we had more producers sign up in the first quarter of this year than we did all of last year. We continued marching on because we have a partner in Nestle that is helping fund the project.”

The Advancing Pork Sustainability grant is available to eligible producers in 12 states for technical assistance and financial support for implementing the following practices: cover crops, livestock integration, conservation tillage, manure management, edge-of-field and perennial grass buffers, and energy-efficient practices. While the NPB is the project lead, row-crop farmers are also eligible to apply for the program. 

Farmers for Soil Health is specifically for farmers planting cover crops in selected states, coordinated by the Soy Checkoff, Pork Checkoff, and National Corn Growers Association.