1. USDA program detail, project summary

The University of Idaho College of Agricultural and Life Sciences is set to receive a USDA grant of up to $55 million to help Idaho farmers and ranchers combat climate change through agricultural practices.

The university’s project — Climate-Smart Commodities for Idaho: A Public-Private Tribal Partnership — is among 70 awarded nationwide in the up to $2.8 billion first pool of USDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grants.

The five-year grant will support research on building cropping systems designed to be more resilient to climate change, the university said in a release. More than half the funds will be paid directly to producers in the state, and more than 100 farmers and ranchers will benefit directly.

The grant is the largest in university history, and nearly $30 million of it will be passed through to growers via USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, Michael Parrella, UI agriculture dean, said at a UI alumni luncheon in Meridian Oct. 5.

NRCS will connect with farmers and ranchers about grant-related opportunities and will continue to fine-tune recommended best practices, said Curtis Elke, state conservationist with the agency.

Research will focus on staple commodities such as potatoes, beef, sugar beets, wheat, barley, hops and chickpeas. The grant will drive climate-smart practices on about 10% of the state’s active cropland, preventing the emission of up to 100,000 tons of carbon per year, UI said.

Food producers will be eligible for payments to try climate-smart practices such as raising crops primarily for soil-health benefits — cover crops, for example — and helping the soil hold carbon by reducing reliance on tillage.

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.

Laura Laumatia, climate research and policy analyst with the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, said the tribe hopes the lessons learned can help farmers across the reservation adapt their farming practices “in a way that benefits their productivity while also benefitting the Tribe’s ability to protect the quality and health of its water and soil in the face of warming temperatures and increased probability of drought.”

Additional partners include the Idaho Association of Soil Conservation Districts, Salmon Safe, The Nature Conservancy Idaho chapter office, the Wave Foundation, Desert Mountain Grassfed Beef and Kooskooskie Fish LLC.

Jodi Johnson-Maynard leads the project with co-principal investigator Sanford Eigenbrode. Maynard is in UI’s Soil and Water Systems Department. Eigenbrode is in the Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology Department.

The project will allow researchers and participants to pilot a program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions “in a way that meets the market demands for sustainably produced products while benefiting our farmers,” Johnson-Maynard said.

Many companies, big and small, “see the handwriting on the wall — that the need for a climate-friendly pipeline is not going away, and if they’re staying competitive in the industry, they’ve got to get on board,” Eigenbrode said.

While the grant is a major achievement for UI, “the big winners will be Idaho farmers and ranchers who are willing to try new approaches to producing food, with the goal of making their operations more sustainable and protecting the environment,” said Christopher Nomura, UI vice president of research and economic development.