WI Climate-Smart Commodities Project
Modern agriculture faces unprecedented challenges, including shifting climate patterns, extreme weather events, and resource limitations. Overcoming these difficulties requires innovative approaches to ensure the health of both farming operations and the surrounding environment. We recognize the urgent need for a comprehensive approach that harmonizes agricultural productivity with environmental sustainability.
WFU has partnered with the Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance on a Climate Smart Commodities grant funded by USDA. The project aims to support family farmers in Wisconsin by promoting the adoption of climate-smart production models and facilitating access to marketplaces that support the public service offered by these practices. It specifically targets small- and mid-scale, historically underserved, and marginalized producers. The project also aims to create additional economic and marketing opportunities for farmers in the region who participate in project objectives around production models that support good water quality and climate mitigation strategies.
In support of this partnership, has hired a Communications Specialist, Erin Thompson, to promote the project, and will be hiring a project coordinator to foster collaboration and communication among partners, and conduct outreach to identified communities.. WFU will support the development of farmer hubs to promote peer learning and networking and will conduct outreach to engage farmers in the watershed in project opportunities.
The Commodities Project will concentrate on reducing runoff, sequestering carbon, and keeping Northeast Wisconsin farmers and conservation professionals updated on rapidly changing environmental and market conditions. Fox-Wolf will collaborate with underserved and minority farmers to collect data that firmly establishes the connections between healthy lands and the quality of the end products consumers purchase. Farmers will be empowered to conduct an economic analysis of their farmland to implement targeted climate adaptation strategies for long-term economic and environmental sustainability.
Grants, Funders, & Partners
The Commodities Project was made possible by Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance and funded directly by the USDA, with partners including Outagamie County, Pheasant Forever, and the Wisconsin Farmers Union. Fox-Wolf has granted a subaward to Utah State University to participate in this project.
