CLIMATE-SMART OPPORTUNITY
Find out how farmers can begin monetizing their sustainability efforts
Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative and Farmers for Sustainable Food hosted a Climate-Smart informational webinar on March 12 from 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. CST. The webinar provided insight on the group’s multi-year climate-smart sustainability program after recently announcing that the program is accepting farmer enrollment.
FSF’s Managing Director Lauren Brey shared program details and how farmers can participate and earn financial compensation.
The Farmers for Sustainable Food Climate-Smart Program
The Farmers for Sustainable Food (FSF) Climate-Smart Program is the culmination of years of proven on-farm, farmer-led sustainability work. We bring extensive experience with farm-level sustainability projects to facilitate locally focused initiatives that support targeted environmental concerns.
Our program stands out among the rest in three important ways:
- Farmer-driven: No requirement for farmers to implement any specific practices, individual farm groups determine the area of focus.
- Incentives: Stipends available up to $9,000 a year based on level of participation
- Hands-on support: Technical support at the farm level to help participants understand their scores and how to leverage their data into management decisions for positive environmental and financial outcomes.
WHICH LEVEL WORKS BEST FOR YOU?
Eligible participants can enroll in the FSF Climate-Smart Program at one of three project levels, each of which has a different financial incentive:
Contributor:
As a Contributor, you will participate in a simple greenhouse gas and carbon assessment based on current on-farm practices. No additional requirements at this level.
Contributors receive $1,500 per year of participation.
Cultivator:
Take a deeper dive into your farm data through more in-depth assessments of your farming practices using tools such as COMET-Farm and other approved assessment tools.
Cultivators receive an additional $3,000 for a total of $4,500 per year of participation.
Collaborator:
At the Collaborator level, you can get paid even more when you help connect the supply chain by sharing your data with downstream partners, like processors, to help generate added value for your commodities.
Collaborators receive an additional $4,500, for a total of $9,000 per year of participation.
Who Can Participate?
Farmers can enter into a Climate-Smart project through one of three channels:
-
- Membership in a farmer-led watershed group supported by FSF.
- Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative member.
- Through a processor, NGO or other supporting organization.
Once application is approved, participants complete onboarding and enter the Climate-Smart Project Cycle.
Are you eligible?
To ensure accurate data and project success, participating farms must:
- Be located within Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative geography.
- Have access to data that aligns with project goals.
- Be willing to participate long term, with a requested commitment through March 31, 2028, and a 30-day notice if you wish to end your project.
Non-dairy farmers are eligible to participate through farmer-led groups or by supplying crops to a dairy farmer that is an Edge member participating in a project. Preference is given to projects that focus on data sharing in the supply chain.
WHAT’S INVOLVED AT EACH STEP OF THE PROJECT CYCLE?
DATA SUBMITTED
Provide all required information for the selected level of participation.
DATA VERIFIED
FSF team confirms all required information is received.
FARMER COMPENSATED
Compensation based on level of participation – Contributor, Cultivator or Collaborator – is distributed.
REPORTS GENERATED
FSF and its contractors run the provided data through models to generate greenhouse gas emissions, carbon scores and other information if applicable, such as local resource concerns (e.g. water quality).
INDIVIDUAL FARM REVIEW
Enrolled farms have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with Climate-Smart project staff to understand their farm scores.
NEXT SEASON GOAL SETTING
Work with Climate-Smart project staff to set goals for next year based on farm business objectives.
OUTCOME REPORTING
All farm scores are aggregated for project-level scores and outcomes to share at annual, farmer-to-farmer meetings of project participants and amplification within the local community and beyond.
Ready to take the next step?
If you’re interested in learning more or getting started, fill out the form below or email climate-smart@voiceofmilk.com.
MORE RESOURCES
News and updates Follow along for updates from the program and to learn more about the USDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities award.
Ready to learn more?
Fill out the form below.
This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agreement number NR233A750004G051.