Navigating the Conservation Funding Space

Navigating the Conservation Funding Space

By Megan Miller, ISA Agronomy Programs Manager

Whether it is the Inflation Reduction Act, Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities (PCSC), or privately backed ecosystem service markets, the past two years have seen unprecedented levels of funding for farmers to implement conservation practices. While details are still being outlined for the plans to spend $19 billion over 10 years to enhance EQIP, CSP, ACEP, and USDA technical assistance through the Inflation Reduction Act, contracts are currently being signed for the $3.1 billion dollars’ worth of Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities projects. According to the USDA, the PCSC projects are expected to reach 60,000 farms, encompassing more than 25 million acres of working land, and will result in the removal of 60 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. This metric tonnage is equivalent to removing 12 million gasoline-powered vehicles from the road for one year. Of the 141 projects that were funded nationally, 22 will be available in Illinois to incentivize climate-smart row crop production, animal agriculture, and forestry.

Two of ISA’s conservation partners were awarded fund - ing under PCSC, the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund (SWOF) and the Precision Conservation Management Program (PCM). Both programs will be offering incentives to Illinois farmers to implement conservation practices on their farms.

The Soil and Water Outcomes Fund was founded by AgOutcomes, a subsidiary of the Iowa Soybean Association, and ReHarvest Partners. They provide outcome based financial incentives to farmers who transition to on-farm conservation practices such as conservation tillage, planting cover crops, or nitrogen reductions. Farmer participants provide on-farm data to SWOF, allowing them to calculate the amount of carbon dioxide sequestered and amount of nitrogen and phosphorus prevented from leeching into waterways. By stacking multiple positive environmental outcomes of on-farm conservation practices, SWOF pays farmers an average of $30.00 per acre. Through PCSC, SWOF received $95 million in funding to expand across the Midwest. Growers interested in learning more about SWOF should visit www.theoutcomesfund.com.

The Precision Conservation Management (PCM) program will be offering multiple conservation practice incentives to growers in the six PCM regions. Depending on their geography, PCM participants will have up to three incentive programs to choose from.

The first incentive program is Farmers for Soil Health (FFSH), a partnership between the United Soybean Board, National Pork Board, National Corn Growers Association, and their state level counter parts. FFSH received $95 million from PCSC to increase cover crop adoption in 20 states. Growers implementing cover crops for the first time can receive $25 the first year, $15 the second year, and $10 the third year of program enrollment on up to 1000 acres.

PCM was also included in a project led by Field to Market in partnership with PCM’s longterm partner, PepsiCo. Field to Market received $70 million to provide conservation funding for growers in over 30 states and tribal territories. While negotiations are still underway, PCM is slated to receive $8 million dollars to incentivize the adoption or continuation of conservation practices such as cover cropping, tillage reduction, and application of nitrogen at the MRTN rate. Pricing varies by practice, PCM farmers will also have access to NRCS – RCPP funds for cover crop adoption. Learn more about PCM and how you can enroll at www.precisionconservation.org.

Enrollment in conservation programs requires some homework on the part of the grower, mostly in the form of data, to show how your farm is becoming climate-smart. Farmers can expect to provide information such as field boundaries, previous conservation history, future conservation plans, and crop management. Growers should also be aware that they cannot be paid twice for the same practice on the same acre when enrolling in federally-funded conservation programs. Finally, growers should work with a trusted conservation agronomist when integrating new practices on their farms.

To help farmers navigate this new space, the ISA Agronomy team and ILSoyAdvisor partnered with Moore & Warner Ag Group to develop the Carbon Data Guidebook. It contains advice on file types, digital tools, the types of practice data needed, and methods to keep track of it throughout the season. We are excited to publish the Guidebook in this issue of the magazine, and a digital version can be downloaded from https://www.ilsoyadvisor.com/ carbon-data-guidebook/.

Navigating the conservation funding space can be difficult, and the ISA Agronomy Team is here to help. We hope to provide more information about Climate-Smart Commodities programs and other ecosystem service markets through the Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership’s website in the future. In the meantime, we encourage growers to keep their conservation goals at the front of their minds when choosing which incentive program is right for their farm.