Seeded by USDA, climate-smart products speed to market, says Vilsack

Nearly four dozen climate-smart commodities, from beets and bourbon to corn and yogurt, are on the market two years after the USDA launched the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities project, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday. The $3.1 billion public-private initiative, with 135 demonstration projects, is meant to encourage farmers to adopt climate-mitigating practices on working lands while creating a market for the products.

“In fact, speaking of climate-smart commodities, today we have more than 40 of the commodities within this program that are already being sold in the marketplace to a variety of buyers — buyers that include universities, food hubs, processors, retailers, and directly to consumers,” said Vilsack at a Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Project Expo in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

“When government and stakeholders like those who are assembled here come together on an issue, we can remove the risk from the marketplace and we can make climate-smart practices profitable for all producers,” he said.

Some 3.2 million acres on 14,000 farms were enrolled in projects that would develop more than 100 climate-smart products, said the agriculture secretary. A four-page USDA summary said 44 climate-smart commodities were on sale in June. It also said that 400,000 metric tons of carbon have been sequestered as part of the initiative, with the total expected to reach 60 million tons over five years.

Republicans in Congress, who are generally skeptical of climate change, have questioned the Biden administration’s authority to fund such a large-scale initiative with money drawn from a USDA reserve that also pays for farm supports. The farm bill approved by the House Agriculture Committee five months ago would greatly restrict Vilsack’s access to the $30 billion fund. It also would allow $12 billion earmarked by the 2022 climate, healthcare, and tax law for climate mitigation efforts through USDA conservation programs to be used on practices that do not sequester carbon or reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition, some environmental groups have questioned the scientific rigor of the demonstration projects.

Agriculture accounts for roughly 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

To watch a video of remarks by Vilsack and Pennsylvania agriculture secretary Russell Redding, click here.

The USDA home page for Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities is available here.