$3.25M Grant To Fund Climate-Centric Practices In Organic Farming In Prince George's Co.

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — A $3.25 million grant has been awarded to Prince George's County from Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities.

The grant will fund a pilot program that supports farmers and producers, particularly those of color, to implement climate-centric practices in organic farming.

The proposed project will pilot, evaluate and build a Climate-Smart Local Producers Program to address marketing products grown using various climate-centric practices. It will focus on breaking down barriers to implementing such practices on existing and new farms. Emphasis will be placed on encouraging the entry of historically underserved producers into the marketplace.

This includes beginning farmers, socially disadvantaged farmers, veteran farmers, limited resource farmers, women farmers and producers growing specialty crops. Supporting new and expanding green markets is essential to ensure that the county's agriculture sector remains competitive with surrounding counties.

“We are Prince George’s Proud to receive this investment funding from the Biden-Harris administration,” said Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks. “This funding will allow Prince George’s County to continue to lead in climate and environmental justice, provide funding for farmers in underserved communities, reduce barriers to farm owners and operators, and contribute to the availability of healthy food across our great county.”

The Prince George’s County Department of the Environment will lead the pilot. DoE Director Andrea Crooms said, “This award allows us to foster the partnership between the department, our world-class institutions of higher learning, non-profit leaders and farmers utilizing climate-smart practices across the county.”

The county will work to scale up and institutionalize pilot successes upon completion of the initial five-year USDA-funded project period. DoE anticipates the partnership will expand as the pilot progresses.