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RIPE policy proposal: Payments above costs for ag conservation

May is Mental Health Awareness Month:

How You Can Access Support for Stress, Mental Health

RIPE community members know it’s not easy to be a farmer or rancher. Financial uncertainty, market volatility, unpredictable weather and labor shortages are just some of the factors that make farming uniquely stressful. Factors like these create the opportunity for farmers and ranchers to experience mental health challenges. But there is support available to help you tackle them. This Mental Health Awareness Month, we are sharing a variety of resources that specifically address the stressors of farming. We hope you find them useful and share them with your community.

  • Farm Aid - Resources for emotional support, natural disasters, legal rights, socially disadvantaged farmers and more.


  • American Farm Bureau Federation - Mental health and substance abuse information, directory of resources for help.


  • National Farmers Union - Compilation of mental health, pandemic, mediation and natural disaster resources.

In the video below from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Rural Health Information Hub, learn learn about the warning signs of suicide and how communities can help farmers and their families address mental health concerns.

Preventing Farmer Suicide: Collaboration and Communication

Producer-Leader Spotlight: Kyle Rhodd

Kansas farmer for the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska

Kyle Rhodd in the field

On the farm: I farm for the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska in White Cloud, Kansas. I started as a farm hand and worked my way up to manager. I've been employed with the tribe going on three years. I started this journey with no farming background. With education and guidance, I've learned so much in the past few years. We take pride in tapping into food-grade markets not only to get premiums but most of all to grow healthier food. We produce corn, soybeans, wheat, milo, sunflowers, rye, cover crops, our native Indian corn, and three varieties of heritage corn. We use regenerative agriculture practices across all acres.


If you use conservation practices in your operation, which ones? We use regenerative agriculture practices across all acres. Conservation practices we use are no-till, plant into cover, adaptive grazing, prescribed burning and bale grazing. My passion is to increase soil health while being profitable and making a difference in this world.


Industry and community involvement: Intertribal Agriculture Council, Native American Agriculture Fund (NAFA), Understanding Ag, Regenified, Soil Health Academy and Practical Farmers of Iowa.


Why do you support RIPE? Our overall goals fall right in alignment with the goals RIPE has. We can work together to help solve climate change and improve overall soil health.


What impacts would the RIPE100 payments have on your farm or ranch? We could use those resources to help us decrease inputs and to increase profitability across our operation.


What’s your favorite movie or music artist? Morgan Wallen

USDA Recommendations to Spend IRA Funding In Line With RIPE Platform

As reported in Politico’s Morning Ag email, Robert Bonnie, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm Production and Conservation at USDA, made it clear that USDA is committed to using nearly $20 billion in Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding to advance climate-smart agriculture.  


“The Agriculture Department is shifting its focus from building to executing its sweeping climate agenda” using those funds, he said. 


According to the report, “Bonnie said he is confident USDA will be able to spend all of the money from the IRA.” This is despite a recent report from the Congressional Budget Office that cast doubt on that. 


Bonnie said USDA intends to make changes to ensure the IRA funding can be spent before its Sept. 30, 2031 deadline. These changes are in alignment with key RIPE farm bill platform policy recommendations and include the following:

  • Streamlining program enrollment.

  • Making it easier for producers to access conservation programs and funding.

  • Providing access to more farmers and ranchers. 

  • Encouraging private market investments.   

RIPE Continues Dialogue with Members of Congress to Advance the RIPE Farm Bill Platform 

The RIPE Government Relations Team is continuing conversations with members of both parties in the House and Senate to advance our farm bill platform. Many Ag Committee members are interested in key pieces of the RIPE platform including program access for early adopters. They also appreciate our proposal for a streamlined enrollment process, which would minimize time invested by producers and administrative requirements of USDA county staff. With the influx of IRA funding, many are beginning to embrace the idea of providing incentive payments at a level above costs for environmentally beneficial practices that provide a significant return to producers and taxpayers.

Have You Signed Our Letter of Support?

To make the RIPE policy a reality, policymakers need to see broad support for our proposal. You can advance the RIPE farm bill platform! Click below to read our full platform, and to read and sign the letter of support.

Yes, I support the RIPE policy platform!
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Watch for RIPE on American Dairy Coalition’s Podcast, Webinar

Stay tuned for details on when and how to tune in!

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RIPE Partnership By the Numbers

While we await finalization of the RIPE Partnership pilot grant by the USDA, we continue to work with Virginia Tech and our other partners to plan for a successful launch and implementation.


Want to know more about what we have proposed to the USDA? 

  • $56M+ will go directly to producers.

  • Roughly 4,400 to 4,800 operations will be enrolled.

  • Climate-smart practices will be adopted across 457,660 acres or animal units, with 64% being cropland, 24% rangeland and 12% animal units.

  • At least 40% of enrolled operations will be owned or leased by historically underserved producers


Funding distribution by state:

  • Arkansas: $13M+ to about 1,300 producers across two, one-year enrollment periods.

  • Minnesota: $15M+ to about 670 producers across one, two-year enrollment period.

  • North Dakota: $13M+ to about 940 producers across two, one-year enrollment periods.

  • Virginia: $15M+ to about 1,700 producers across two, one-year enrollment periods.

If you are interested in participating in the RIPE program and live in one of the four pilot states, stay tuned to this newsletter for more information. You can also learn about our farm bill strategy and how you can help make the RIPE Program a reality for all producers.

A Closer Look at Covers on Waste Lagoons


The practice of using covers on waste lagoons (NRCS code 367) for swine and dairy animal feeding operations would qualify for payment under the RIPE program.


Lagoon covers can reduce emissions and provide additional environmental benefits valued at over $1,000 per animal unit per year.


Farmers who implement lagoon covers reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 2.3 metric tons per animal unit for a public value of $121 per animal unit. They also provide around $900 per animal unit in air quality benefits. 


Review our methodology and sources here.  


See the full list of RIPE’s qualifying practices here.

The RIPE proposal includes farm practices that mitigate flooding and would compensate farmers fairly for their implementation.

 

Flood mitigation practices that qualify for payment in the plan include cover crops, reduced tillage, rotational grazing, silvopasture and riparian buffers.


These practices provide the following benefits: 

  • Increase water infiltration into the soil rather than allowing the water to run across the land, reducing flood depth and duration on frequently flooded lands, especially in alluvial river valleys and areas with hydric clay soils.  

  • Hold soil in place during flooding. This prevents sedimentation in waterways and overland flow, and it reduces the amount of standing water on fields and pastures.

  • Reduce polluted waterways caused by flooding. Pesticides and fertilizers, carried as runoff, damage fishing and recreation, as well as aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity.

RIPE in the news graphic

RIPE Coalition Director Trey Cooke spoke with Delta Farm Press (Page 18) about how our policy proposal differs from existing conservation programs and the opportunity that new funding through the Inflation Reduction Act provides.


Meanwhile, in North Dakota Soybean Grower Magazine (Page 18), RIPE’s then-Executive Director Aliza Drewes and North Dakota farmer Ed Kessel discussed the pilot coming to North Dakota and what it means for producers there.

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