Ag companies commit over $2M in funds to TSC, NFWF

The Sustainability Consortium, jointly administered by Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, and the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, launched a new initiative, the Resilient Agriculture Accelerator Fund, to strategically scale voluntary regenerative conservation agriculture on farms in the U.S.

The RAAF seeks to provide technical and other assistance to ranchers, reduce financial barriers for producers, support more resilient supply chains in the future and address the effects of climate change.

The fund, established by TSC, is managed in cooperation with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Washington, D.C.; Nutrien Ag Solutions, Saskatoon, Canada; Syngenta, Basel, Switzerland; the Zoetis Foundation, Parsippany, New Jersey; and others have jointly pledged or contributed $1 million dollars to help create and improve resilient and regenerative supply chains to help increase food security, enhance agricultural conservation and support thriving farm communities. This million-dollar pledge will be matched at a minimum of 1:1 scale with federal, state and other private funding to directly support growers and producers, creating at least $2 million in total funding.

The RAAF will leverage federal, state and private foundation funds to amplify investments and help scale up resilient agriculture. Funding will be prioritized for the following farm needs:

• Technical assistance such as agronomic advice, digitizing farm data and conservation practice implementation
• Financial assistance such as co-funding for on-farm conservation practices that sequester carbon, improve wildlife habitats, or protect water resource

The fund also seeks to mitigate some of the up-front costs that are necessary to implement regenerative practices for dairy and row-crop farmers. In addition, the RAAF provides the opportunity to help create long-term returns for recipients who may choose to participate in emerging carbon and nutrient markets.

“TSC is excited to launch this opportunity to improve farmer livelihoods and climate resilience by protecting soil, water, and wildlife,” says Christy Slay, PhD, TSC CEO who leads the initiative. “Cost is the biggest barrier for a farmer when considering practice changes and farm data digitization. Our goal is to create new opportunities to scale U.S. farmers’ efforts to adopt more resilient and regenerative practices.”