Frequently Asked Questions

The Alliance is open to producers operating farms within select soil and water conservation districts in Arkansas, Minnesota, North Dakota and Virginia.

Producers must have established farm records with the Farm Service Agency, including farm identification, tract, and field numbers and agree to provide additional Farm Service Agency records to fulfill the Alliance’s grant and data reporting requirements.

Over three years, the Alliance will enroll an estimated 1,100–1,200 farms in each of the four states, for a total reach of 4,400 — 4,800 operations.

Open enrollment periods will vary by state, and will accept applications for a minimum of 30 days.  Sign up for the newsletter to find out when applications open in your area!

Producer agreements (the “contract”) are valid for one calendar year.

• W-9 Tax Form
  This is required for Virginia Tech to issue producer payments. As of July 2024, Virginia Tech will only accept the most recent W9 from the IRS, published March 2024.
• Farm Service Agency farm number(s)
• Farm Service Agency tract number(s)
• Farm Service Agency field number(s)

If you are selected to participate in the Alliance, producers must provide the following to complete enrollment:

• Subsidiary Print
• Farm Map(s) showing farm, tract, and field numbers
• NRCS CPA-52 Environmental Evaluation Worksheet, if applicable

Select practices will require the CPA-52 worksheet.  See Conservation Practice Worksheets for more information.

Producers are required to submit Farm Service Agency records during the application, including their Farm Service Agency farm, tract, and field numbers, the corresponding farm map, and a current year subsidiary print.

If you are a producer and do not currently have established farm records, please make an appointment at your local FSA office with staff who will assist you through the process.  To find the nearest service center, please use the online FSA Service Center Locator.

Helpful article:  What Is a Farm Number? Why Is It So Important for USDA Funding?

Farm selection is conducted by Virginia Tech’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.  The research team employs a randomized selection model – a lottery system – to ensure statistically representative and equitable enrollment.  Although the selection process is random, the model does factor in various considerations, such as the diversity of climate-smart practices and commodities, enrollment targets for the Justice40 Initiative, total acreage or animal units, and the overall number of producers.

Producers are allowed to submit up to two farm “bundles,” with no limit on the number of Farm Service Agency numbers, as long as the total enrolled land does not exceed 160 acres or animal units per bundle (for a maximum of 320 per applicant).  Zero, one, or both bundles may be accepted.  Producers who are not selected for enrollment are encouraged to reapply during future application periods.

Yes!

All producers who meet the eligibility criteria and submit a complete application are considered in a randomized “lottery” for selection.  If a producer is not selected, they are welcome and encouraged to apply when enrollment opens again.

Once an application is submitted, it will be saved on the Alliance Dashboard. Producers may log into the dashboard if they wish to review their previous application and reapply.  If an enrolled producer completes their contract with the Alliance and wish to enroll for a second year, they are welcome to — as long as a new practice occurs on new acres and/or animal units.

Any producer who is not selected is invited to reapply in subsequent periods, as long as they have met all of the requisite eligibility criteria.

Each application may include up to two farms, identified by unique FSA farm numbers.  Each designated operator may enroll a maximum of 160 acres and/or animal units per farm, for a potential maximum of 320 acres and/or animal units per application.  Producers may not submit multiple applications to exceed the maximum units.

Minimum acreage is determined by each state, as follows:

Arkansas
Must enroll a minimum of 5 acres or 5 animal units.

Minnesota
Must enroll a minimum of 3 acres or 10 animal units.

North Dakota
Must enroll a minimum of 3 acres or 10 animal units.

Virginia
Must enroll a minimum of 2 acres.  There is no minimum for animal units, but keep in mind that the stocking rate (i.e., acres per animal unit) must be within an appropriate range for the farm.

Qualifying practices have been selected from USDA-NRCS Conservation Practice Standards. All practices will meet approved NRCS standards.

Producers may only receive one payment per acre or animal unit; installing multiple practices on the same acre or animal unit will not increase the payment.  If a Producer wishes to add multiple practices, they must occur on different acres or animal units.

Conservation Crop Rotation (328)
Residue and Tillage Management, No Till (329)
Cover Crop (340)
Residue and Tillage Management, Reduced Till (345)
Silvopasture (381)
Riparian Herbaceous Cover (390)
Riparian Forest Buffer (391)
Nutrient Management (590)
Tree/Shrub Establishment (612)
Irrigation Water Management, Alternative Wetting and Drying (449)
  Arkansas only
Pasture and Hay Planting (512)
Prescribed Grazing (528)
Feed Management (592)

Accepted practices may vary by state; for a complete list, please see the Approved Practices guide.

As part of the Producer Agreement, enrolled participants are required to provide additional data and complete surveys related to greenhouse gas benefits, technical assistance, and commodity marketing events. This data collection is required for all USDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities projects and will be administered by Virginia Tech faculty. The data required will vary by farm location, commodity, and practice.

The USDA requires the Alliance and local staff to generate data that reflects the environmental impacts of the chosen conservation practices. To gather this data, they will use tools such as COMET Planner, COMET Farm, FieldPrint Calculator, and RUSLE2 (soil loss estimator).

 

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT TOOLS

➡  The Carbon Management and Emissions Tool (COMET-Planner) is a measurement tool designed to provide the estimated greenhouse gas impacts of NRCS conservation practices, without extensive on-site sampling.
Arkansas producers implementing Irrigation Water Management, Alternative Wetting and Drying (449) will utilize FieldPrint instead of COMET-Planner for rice conservation practices.

➡  The Fieldprint® Platform is an assessment framework that measures the environmental impacts of commodity crop production, developed by Field to Market.

➡  Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation 2 (RUSLE2) estimates rates of rill and interrill soil erosion caused by rainfall and its associated overland flow.
RUSLE2 is required for cropland practices.  The producer will be asked to provide shapefile data, which can be obtained from the Farm Service Agency.

➡  The COMET-Farm™ tool is a whole farm and ranch carbon and greenhouse gas accounting system that enables producers to estimate carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions related to annual crop production, livestock, and on-farm energy use.

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Virginia Tech will select up to 10% of applicants to participate in COMET-Farm.

Producers who choose to report through COMET-Farm will be compensated an additional $1,000 per year for the estimated 35 hours to collect and input historical farm data.

• If a producer wishes to participate in COMET-Farm, they will opt-in when they apply. They will be notified by Virginia Tech if they are selected.  An additional $1,000 payment will be issued at the conclusion of the contract.
• Producers who participate in COMET-Farm are still required to submit COMET-Planner data.

The Alliance will pay producers $100 per acre or animal unit, per year, for voluntary adoption of climate-smart practices.

Producers that qualify as Historically Underserved will receive an additional equity payment valued at 25% of the baseline $100/unit.  The public environmental benefits – soil health, water quality, pollinator and wildlife habitat and air quality – are estimated to exceed this financial incentive.

The Alliance will also partner with the Sustainable Food Lab to develop a prototype climate-smart certificate that producers can use to market climate-smart commodities to the American public.  More information about the certificate and marketing opportunities will be available soon.

Once a Producer Agreement has been signed, payments are made in three installments: 50% is released after enrollment is complete, 25% is paid six months into the contract, and the final payment is released when the required data has been submitted and verified by Virginia Tech.  See the Alliance Producer Guide for complete payment details.

The final payment is guaranteed to farmers as long as they fulfill the terms and conditions set forth in the Producer Agreement.

Simultaneous enrollment of the same practice on the same acres is not allowed for any NRCS, state cost-share, or any other program under the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities fund.

If a producer is participating in another voluntary conservation program delivered through USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), they must confirm that the funds received from the Alliance will not be used to pay for the implementation of the same practice on the same land. Generally, if a practice has (or had) a federal contract and is still within the project lifespan, then that specific practice on that specific land will not be paid for again.

The pilot will reach an estimated 4,670 operations representing over 475,000 acres.  Over $57 million will be paid directly to producers, with a $4 million allocation for high-cost livestock practices.

The pilot will allocate 5% of funds for socially disadvantaged producers and 5% for limited resource producers in each state.  If the funds are not used during the first year, they will be rolled into the second year allocation for underserved producers.  Additional efforts will then be made to engage and enroll underserved producer groups, including potentially expanding participating conservation districts to improve outreach and support resources.

If you are selected to participate in the Alliance, producers must provide the following to complete enrollment:

• W-9 Tax Form
• Current year Subsidiary Print
• Farm Map(s)
• NRCS CPA-52 Environmental Evaluation Worksheet, if applicable
  Select practices will require the CPA-52 worksheet. See the Approved Practices for more information.

Producers must keep records to document progress and proof of implementation.  Conservation districts will schedule field visit(s) with producers as needed to confirm compliance.

ℹ Certain practices or operations may require additional data to fulfill grant reporting requirements, as determined by the Alliance.

The Alliance adheres to Virginia Tech policy with respect to all statutory and legal requirements and access to information.  All personal data will be retained for a period not to exceed (5) years after the retention begin date.

Farm, tract, field numbers, and producer name will be provided to the USDA National Program Officer as part of routine reporting under the USDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grant.

The Justice40 Initiative aims to ensure that at least 40% of enrolled producers come from historically underserved operations. Producers qualifying as Historically Underserved Farmers or Ranchers will receive an equity payment equal to 25% of the standard $100 per unit rate. Based on an average practice cost of $36 per acre, this could yield annual net profits up to $14,240 per operation.

The Alliance will prioritize participation from historically underserved and underrepresented farmers and ranchers. This includes beginning producers, small-farm operators, 100% women-owned operations, limited resource producers, socially disadvantaged producers, and veteran producers. These groups have been identified and defined by the USDA, details below.

BEGINNING PRODUCERS

An individual who has not operated a farm, ranch, for more than 10 consecutive years. To qualify, an individual must provide substantial day-to-day labor and management of the operation, consistent with the practices in the county or State where the operation is located.

A legal entity or joint operation can be considered a Beginning Farmer and Rancher (BFR) if all members individually qualify.

SMALL PRODUCERS

An operation with gross cash farm income under $250,000.

100% WOMEN-OWNED OPERATIONS

Operations whose principal operator—the individual most responsible for the day-to-day decisions of the farm (or ranch)—is female.

LIMITED RESOURCE PRODUCERS

▸ A farmer or rancher who has direct or indirect gross farm sales not more than the current indexed value in each of the previous 2 years, AND
▸ has a total household income at or below the national poverty level for a family of four in each of the previous 2 years, OR
▸ has a total household income less than 50 percent of the county median household income in each of the previous 2 years.

A legal entity or joint operation can be considered Limited Resource if all members individually qualify.

SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED PRODUCERS

Groups that have been subject to racial or ethnic prejudice, such as farmers who are Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Hispanic or Latino, and Asian or Pacific Islander.

ℹ We acknowledge that the term “socially disadvantaged” may not be how individuals who fit the definitions below identify themselves. It is included to outline specific incentives and priorities for underserved producers within USDA programs.

VETERAN PRODUCERS

A producer who:
▸ Served in the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, or Coast Guard, including the reserve component thereof; was released from service under conditions other than dishonorable, AND
▸ Has not operated a farm or ranch, or has operated a farm or ranch for not more than 10 years,
OR
▸ First obtained status as a veteran during the most recent 10-year period

A legal entity or joint operation can be a Veteran Farmer or Rancher only if all individual members independently qualify.