Edge | Farm groups led by Edge co-op getting $50M USDA grant

Farm groups led by Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative are getting a $50 million USDA grant for more sustainable, climate-friendly dairy and beet sugar production.

The Green Bay-based co-op and nonprofit Farmers for Sustainable Food yesterday announced Edge has finalized an agreement with the federal agency for the new grant. It will support an effort called the Farmer-led Climate Smart Commodities Initiative: Building Success from the Ground Up, which the co-op submitted for funding last year.

According to the release from participating groups, projects will be organized around an ag sustainability framework developed by Edge and Farmers for Sustainable Food, also based in Green Bay. This model aims to test various “climate-smart production practices” at the farm level, while providing tools to help participants document environmental and financial impacts.

“Edge and its partners have spent over seven years building a nationally recognized model for high-impact, tailored agricultural sustainability projects, and we have proven its success in a network of farmer-led conservation groups,” Edge President Brody Stapel said. “This grant will allow us to greatly expand our efforts, connecting farmers with tools and resources to implement even more climate-smart practices and verify their impact.”

Projects included in the effort include production practices such as cover crops and stripcropping — a farming method that involves growing plants along narrow strips with a rotating cycle of crops — as well as greater use of data and more.

According to the USDA, farmer-led projects included in the proposal are encouraged to provide financial incentives for small and underserved farmers to boost participation.

The initiative includes more than a dozen other partners, including DATCP, The Nature Conservancy, Clean Wisconsin, Southwest Wisconsin Technical College, UW-Madison Division of Extension, the American Sugar Beet Growers Association and others.

See the full list of partners and more project details here:

https://www.usda.gov/climate-solutions/climate-smart-commodities/projects
See more on the farm sustainability framework: https://farmersforsustainablefood.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Sustainability-project-Framework_FINAL.pdf

See the release from Edge: https://www.voiceofmilk.com/news/644465/Sustainability-partners-ink-50M-grant-contract-with-USDA.htm

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