In the latest and one of the most substantial grant opportunities released this year for agriculture-related ESG work, The USDA announced on February 7th; “the USDA is committed to supporting a diverse set of farmers, ranchers, and forest owners through climate solutions that increase resilience, expand market opportunities and strengthen rural America. The new Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities opportunity provides up to $1 billion for pilot projects that create market opportunities for commodities produced using climate-smart practices. USDA is now accepting project applications for the fiscal year 2022.”
Environmentally conscious practices are necessary for the protection of our shared planet. This is an increasingly popular issue stressed by corporations, investors, government, and the general public. However, as a consequence, this often shines an unflattering light onto industries that have fueled human prosperity such as energy, transportation, and infrastructure due to their substantial carbon footprint.
Like many crops before it, hemp can be bred and cultivated to optimize a single primary application; fiber, grain, or CBD. Unlike the cropsbefore it, however, hemp has had problems with stigma, and years of prohibition which prevented applications from being developed sooner. This lack of global use and infrastructure has resulted in highly specialized genetics in terms of application and growing regions. Now, our industry must adapt to keep up with the changing technology and infrastructure.
Due to time constraints and the incentive to produce credits as fast as possible (prices rising), offset project developers (read: farmers who want to generate carbon offset credits) may elect to start a project and verify via a 3rd party later (rather than the traditional route of verifying before starting). However, while this may give farmers a head start, it should be noted that no credits can be issued before the verification step (and subsequent steps) are completed.