As local climate-smart farming research advances, USDA cuts a critical funding stream.

Researchers at CSU Monterey Bay were well underway in putting a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture into motion – already working with 25 local farmers to implement climate-smart practices on their farms – when they received a letter announcing the remainder of their project funds had been terminated.

The termination letter arrived on April 22, informing researchers with the Department of Agriculture, Biology and Chemistry that the project no longer met new criteria set by the USDA. Funding was halted effective immediately. They were given the option to reapply for funding by June 20 and told guidance on the reapplication process would follow. However, as of press time, no clear instructions have been provided.

“We had done so much upfront work in all the different areas that we were trying to achieve,” says Stefanie Kortman, a research technician on the project.

Roughly $1.4 million of the grant had already been put to use. CSUMB’s project was one of 141 others funded as part of a $3.1 billion USDA grant administered by Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, a program aimed at supporting agricultural production that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and sequesters carbon.

Locally, this involved smaller-scale, underserved specialty crop producers contracted to implement several practices emphasized in the grant: cover cropping, compost application and reduced nitrogen management. Farmers had begun applying these practices with technical support, while researchers were tracking the impact on soil health.

The timing of the termination was disruptive, stopping research that was only a month away from completing a data collection cycle. Roughly 10 people’s salaries were impacted, ranging from students to professors to administrative positions. While they were able to secure emergency funds to continue some data collection, Kortman says the challenge is finding ways to sustain the project in the future.