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Conservation Innovation Fund Announces 2nd Round Of Farm Enrollment For Climate-Smart Commodities Market Program

On October 9, the Conservation Innovation Fund, a conservation and sustainability impact finance firm, announced the launch of the second round of farm enrollment for its Climate-Smart Commodities Market Program.

The Program, seeded by a $25 million investment from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, helps small and underserved farms along the Eastern Seaboard implement climate-smart practices that generate Scope 3 supply chain environmental outcomes to meet the sustainability goals of food and beverage companies.

Conservation Innovation Fund’s Climate-Smart Commodities Market Program addresses environmental market failures through upfront financing of long-term contracts for climate assets.

Conservation Innovation Fund works with farms enrolled in the Program to facilitate the integration of climate-smart practices into beef, dairy and grain supply chains, with a focus on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The resulting GHG reductions meet stringent corporate sustainability reporting requirements.

Currently available for purchase, GHG reductions resulting from the Program’s successful first round will be third-party verified and validated in early 2025.

“We are honored to expand this innovative approach to financing climate-smart agriculture,” said Morgan Maloney, Managing Director at Conservation Innovation Fund. “The Climate-Smart Commodities Market Program demonstrates Conservation Innovation Fund’s continued leadership in building bridges between food companies and the farmers in their supply chain to drive sustained economic and environmental benefits.”

Conservation Innovation Fund’s Climate-Smart Commodities Market Program is a collaborative effort in partnership with--

-- Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay

-- Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley

-- Ecosystem Services Market Consortium

-- Lancaster Clean Water Partners

-- Maola Local Dairies

-- Stroud Water Research Center

The Climate-Smart Commodities Market Program prioritizes the implementation of new agricultural practices including cover crops, no-till, rotational grazing, nutrient management and cover & flare.

The farms enrolled in the Program’s first round span across Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York and include women- and veteran-owned farms, underserved producers and small and family-owned farms.

“The Climate-Smart Commodities Market Program provided our family farm with the vital resources and partnership we needed to improve our soil health,” said Merle Zimmerman, co-owner of Zimmerman’s HillTop Dairy in Danville, Pennsylvania. “Conservation Innovation Fund worked with us to ensure we were successful in meeting our sustainability goals."

Conservation Innovation Fund's Climate-Smart Commodities Market Program represents a significant opportunity for farms along the Eastern Seaboard to adopt sustainable practices that both enhance their operations and contribute to broader environmental goals.

Simultaneously, the Program dramatically decreases risk for food companies seeking to reduce their Scope 3 emissions by providing upfront capital to farmers.

The second round of farm enrollment is open to eligible farms now through December 13, 2024.

For more information, visit the Climate-Smart Commodities Market Program webpage about how to enroll.

Click Here for the complete announcement.

The Conservation Innovation Fund creates water, carbon, and biodiversity assets that align public and corporate sustainability agendas with regenerative agriculture producers and practices.

With the support of public and philanthropic grant makers and mission-oriented investors, Conservation Innovation Fund has created a blended capital pool to expand market-based solutions to address pressing conservation challenges.

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