By Jamie Martin
The USDA has cancelled the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities (PCSC), saying the program was not farmer-friendly. A detailed review showed that a large portion of the funding was lost in administrative costs, and farmers received less than half of the money in many cases.
To fix this, the USDA introduced a new initiative—Advancing Markets for Producers (AMP). This plan will use existing funds and focus on helping farmers directly instead of funding long paperwork processes and unclear goals.
The new AMP program has three main rules:
- A minimum of 65% of all funds must go to producers.
- Every grant must have at least one farmer enrolled by December 31, 2024.
- At least one payment must be made to a farmer by the same date.
“The Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities initiative was largely built to advance the green new scam at the benefit of NGOs, not American farmers,” said Secretary Rollins. “The concerns of farmers took a backseat during the Biden Administration. During my short time as Secretary, I have heard directly from our farmers that many of the USDA partnerships are overburdened by red tape, have ambiguous goals, and require complex reporting that push farmers onto the sidelines. We are correcting these mistakes and redirecting our efforts to set our farmers up for an unprecedented era of prosperity.”
Existing partners will be contacted directly with guidance about continuing their work under the new AMP rules. Any expenses before April 13, 2025, will still be honored. However, no extra funding will be given under the PCSC.
This step shows a strong shift towards simpler, more effective support for U.S. farmers, focusing on results and real-world help rather than paperwork and complexity.
Photo Credit: usda
Categories: National