Centering organic practices, small farms and customers as climate solutions!
The Organic Association of Kentucky and partners are working with farmers and buyers in Kentucky to promote the adoption of climate-smart farming practices and develop markets for climate-smart commodities. This project is part of USDA's historic investment in conservation and growing climate solutions.
Project Update, Spring 2025:
In April 2025, USDA announced that it is reorganizing the Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities program into a new initiative called Advancing Markets for Producers (AMP). USDA invited many PCSC projects, including OAK’s, to revise their proposals to align with the “farmers first” priorities of the AMP program. We hope to continue offering these critical services to farmers and will keep our networks updated as we learn more.
The project supported Kentucky farmers in telling the full story of farming systems and the environmental benefits of climate-smart practices, while working to grow regional market demand for climate-smart commodities. The project provided direct technical assistance, educational programming, financial incentives and market development support for participating Kentucky farmers. This project supported farmers who want to implement climate-smart practices (e.g. cover cropping, perennial planting, rotational grazing), collect data on outcomes and engage with emerging markets seeking positive environmental and climate impacts.
Enrolled farmers received financial incentives for implemented practices and free on-farm technical assistance for implementing climate smart practices on their operations.
Practices eligible for incentives included conservation cover, conservation crop rotation, cover crop, residue and tillage management - reduced till, mulching, prescribed grazing, stripcropping, nutrient management, contour orchard and other perennial crops, forest farming, windbreak or shelterbelt establishment or renovation, silvopasture, field border, wildlife habitat planting, hedgerow planting, pasture and hay planting, vegetative barrier, herbaceous wind barriers, tree or shrub establishment.
Enrolled farmers also received free soil sampling and surface water testing; free consultations about the results of their farm’s sustainability assessment; a free conservation management plan recommending climate-smart practices to add or expand on the farm in the subsequent year(s); and much more.
Farmers engaged with a variety of educational events to learn more about practices that could be implemented on their farms through OAK Field Days, workshops and conference events.
OAK and its partners supported farmers in soil sampling, monitoring and measuring the benefits of the practices.
Partners worked with regional buyers to develop market opportunities for climate verified commodities grown and raised through this project to increase regional sales and access emerging markets.
Farmers met with OAK's Soil Health Specialists, working together to optimize the impact of climate-smart practices on one's farm to improve soil health, promote environmental benefits and increase overall resilience on their farmland. OAK worked with farmers to collect data on reduced greenhouse gas emissions, carbon sequestration, soil health indicators, water quality, market development, animal welfare, biodiversity and more to capture and tell the full story of climate-smart practices on their farms in Kentucky. The experiences, information and market development from this project supported farmers to build on-farm resilience and enter markets that reward their stewardship. This project also worked alongside other projects to provide USDA with recommendations on ways to support small farms in the adoption of climate-smart practices.
Participating farms:
Participated in a farmer-led annual farm sustainability assessment, receiving $500 upon completion
Received access to on-farm technical assistance for the development of climate-smart farming plans
Received personalized farm management plans to improve farm resilience
Received financial incentives of $3,000 for verified implementation of practices
Received $180 in soil testing for enrolled fields
Had the opportunity to participate in educational events
Learned from other farmers through a climate-smart peer network
Benefitted from market development and marketing support
Allowed project team scheduled access to enrolled farmland for data collection
Gained insights from data about the farm's soil heath, biodiversity, water quality, crop quality, and other indicators
Measuring Sustainability
This project involved adapting the Global Farm Metric (GFM) framework, developed by the Sustainable Food Trust in the United Kingdom, to create a Farm Sustainability Assessment Tool (FSAT) built for use in the US. This tool, the GFM-FSAT, includes several measures and indicators within 12 categories related to social, economic and environmental sustainability on farms. Participating farms filled out the GFM-FSAT as part of the enrollment process to begin assessing the farm’s baseline sustainability. Each of the categories within the tool contains several metrics that result in a quantitative score. Scores within each category are recorded and serve as a guide for how the farm can achieve the greatest improvements through adoption or expansion of climate-smart practices. Farmers worked with Soil Health Specialists through the project to develop management plans and support the implementation of select practices.
