The University of Idaho’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences has been awarded the largest grant in the university’s history aimed at helping Idaho farmers and ranchers combat climate change.
The university’s “Climate-Smart Commodities for Idaho: A Public-Private-Tribal Partnership” is among 70 projects awarded nationally for a combined investment of about $2.8 billion included in the first pool of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities.
According to the Lewiston Tribune, the award of up to $55 million, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is twice as large as any previous UI grant. In addition to supporting research on building cropping systems that are more resilient to climate change, the five-year grant stimulates the state’s economy by paying more than half of the funds directly to Idaho agricultural producers.
Research will focus on the state’s staple commodities, like potatoes, beef, sugar, wheat, barley, hops and chickpeas. The grant will drive climate-smart practices on about 10% of Idaho’s active cropland, preventing the emission of as much as 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year into the atmosphere. Producers will be eligible for payments to try a host of climate-smart practices.
Additionally, The Coeur d’Alene Tribe Natural Resources Department and the Nez Perce Tribe Land Services Division will be partners in the project, helping to test several climate-smart conservation practices on tribal lands.
Researchers with UI’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences are partners in two additional USDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grants led by other institutions totaling more than $75 million. (Lewiston Tribune)
