Alliance Program Funding Available to Redwood County Farmers

Redwood County, Minnesota — Producers in Redwood County are eligible to receive $100 per acre for integrating best management practices into their farming operations. Eligible practices include no-till, strip-till and cover crops.

Over $2 million is currently available to producers. Landowners can apply for up to 120 acres per applicant, but producers can only have two Alliance Contracts over the four different sign-up periods.

The previous three signups yielded roughly 186 contracts receiving funding in Redwood County, providing over $4 million in producer payments.

Funding is available through the Alliance to Advance Climate Smart Agriculture, a national USDA-funded pilot program led by Virginia Tech University (formerly known as the RIPE100 program) to support the adoption of climate-smart practices. During the three-year pilot program, a total of $80 million will be available to partners in Minnesota, Virginia, Arkansas and North Dakota for program administration and direct financial incentives for producers. The Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) is facilitating the pilot program for Minnesota. Additional state partners include the Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (MASWCD), the Minnesota Farmers Union, the Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association, the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota, Renewing the Countryside, and the Minnesota Soil Health Coalition.

How to apply:

If you are interested in applying, please contact the Redwood Soil & Water Conservation District Office at 507-637-2427, ext. 3.  Applications will be accepted starting Jan 12; the deadline to submit applications is Jan. 30.