Grown Here at Home: Virginia Tech receives $80M grant to accelerate climate-smart agriculture - WDBJ
Grown Here at Home: Virginia Tech receives $80M grant to accelerate climate-smart agriculture
BLACKSBURG, Va. (WDBJ) - Virginia Tech has received a record $80 million grant to pilot the Alliance to Advance Climate-Smart Agriculture program. It rewards producers for implementing climate-smart practices on their farms.
Of that money, $57 million will be paid to producers in Arkansas, Minnesota, North Dakota and Virginia, who enroll in the program. The alliance says by using various tools and methods, these conservation practices are to help protect and improve soil and water.
“They can also help to reduce the release of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide into the atmosphere,” explained Tom Thompson, associate dean for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech.
They can also help farmers navigate climate change.
“It’s going to help improve agricultural resistance and resilience to weather pattern changes,” said James Martin, director for the Division of Soil and Water Conservation for the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.
The alliance says overall this will benefit the land and each farmers’ operation. The goal of the three-year project is to enroll over 4,000 farmers and ranchers. They’ll be paid $100 per acre or animal unit. The first year will focus on smaller operations.
“Our target is to enroll 40 percent of those growers from underserved and historically under-represented groups,” Thompson said.
“We’ve set a minimum acreage for participation at just two acres. We’re hoping to bring in a lot of those small, vegetable operations, or small fresh cut flower operations,” Martin said.
“That’s going to be really exciting because we’re going to be able to provide positive impact for farmers of many different demographics,” Thompson explained.
If the program is successful, it will be used as a model on a national scale. The alliance is now accepting applications from farmers in Virginia. Click here for the application.
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Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”