Enrollment Opens for Climate-Smart Farming Payments

Nov 04, 2024

Enrollment for incentive payments for regenerative grazing and climate-smart fieldscapes begins Nov. 1, says Rob Myers, director of the University of Missouri’s Center for Regenerative Agriculture.

The program is part of a $25 million USDA grant to the University of Missouri.

This is the second year of a five-year project that will provide $17.5 million in incentive funds to farmers and ranchers in Missouri. To date, about 900 farmers have participated in the Missouri Climate-Resilient Crop and Livestock (CRCL) Project, says Myers.

The regenerative grazing program offers payments of $50 per acre for Missouri farmers who develop management plans for prescribed grazing on eligible pastures. Support is available for designing grazing plans that can improve pasture productivity and soil health.

Another enrollment option focuses on small and underserved farmers who implement three or more climate-smart practices appropriate to their farms; the participants also need to be willing for their farms to serve as demonstration sites for those practices. The three stacked climate-smart practices are intended to help maximize soil carbon while enhancing productivity.

Participants in the climate-smart fieldscapes portion of the program can receive up to $10,000 over three years.

Applicants must have operating control of the relevant field or pasture and have a Farm Service Agency farm number. Applications will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis for those that meet eligibility requirements for most of the CRCL programs, including the regenerative grazing program. For those interested in the climate-smart fieldscapes program, an application and review process is used to select participants, says Kelly Wilson, associate director of the MU Center for Regenerative Agriculture.

After available funds are fully allocated for this season, remaining qualified applicants will be placed on a waiting list for future consideration.

In addition to financial assistance with climate-smart practices, the Center for Regenerative Agriculture offers workshops, field days, pasture walks and webinars during the project.

Details will be shared with farmers and ranchers who apply for project funding and are also available at https://cra.missouri.edu/mo-crcl or from Wilson at kellyrwilson@missouri.edu.

Source : missouri.edu

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.