USDA Cancels U Of I Grant

On Monday, the USDA announced the cancellation of the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, which will have a big impact on a Northwest School.  University of Idaho officials announced Wednesday that the largest grant in school history was terminated by the USDA’s announced.  The funds, nearly $59 million, were intended to provide payments directly to Idaho producers for developing sustainable agricultural practices, under the U of I’s Innovative Agriculture and Marketing Partnership project.

U of I faculty, staff and graduate students were providing technical support and guidance to producers to collect and analyze data generated by these practices through this program.  School officials said the data would have helped producers make informed decisions about how these practices would affect their bottom line, reducing the risk to the producers to engage in new practices.  As of March, the IAMP project received applications from 201 Idaho producers representing 34 Idaho counties, across seven commodities.  Several producers had completed all the paperwork and were enrolled, and others were in the final stages  USDA said in Monday's announcement it is committed to honoring all eligible expenses incurred prior to April 13.  U of I is in contact with its implementing partners and several producers to ensure any eligible expenses incurred prior to this date are reimbursed.

“While we are disappointed by the USDA decision to terminate the IAMP grant, we are thankful for the opportunity to resubmit our proposal,” IAMP Co-director Sanford Eigenbrode said. “The objectives of the IAMP project are in line with the expected guidelines from USDA/NRCS and their Farmer First priorities, and we are in a good position to reconfigure the project to meet those guidelines.”

USDA is relaunching the former PCSC program as the Advancing Markets for Producers (AMP) Initiative.  The U of I will have the opportunity to resubmit a proposal by June 20, with adjustments to meet the new criteria.

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