Biden Administration Announces IRA Funding for Climate-Smart Agriculture

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Monday announced funding for agricultural producers and forest landowners to participate in voluntary conservation programs and adopt climate-smart practices.

The Inflation Reduction Act provided an additional $19.5 billion over five years for climate-smart agriculture through several USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service programs. NRCS is making available $850 million in fiscal year 2023 for its oversubscribed conservation programs: the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Conservation Stewardship Program, Agricultural Conservation Easement Program and Regional Conservation Partnership Program.

Secretary Vilsack says, “We know that agriculture plays a critical role in the nation’s effort to address climate change.”

The Inflation Reduction Act funding includes an additional $8.45 billion for EQIP, $4.95 billion for RCPP, $3.25 billion for CSP, and $1.4 billion for ACEP. The increased funding levels begin in fiscal year 2023 and rapidly build over four years.

The additional investments are estimated to help hundreds of thousands of farmers and ranchers apply conservation to millions of acres of land.

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