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Montana Ag Network: Climate-smart practices and farm loans

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Posted at 6:40 PM, May 05, 2024
and last updated 2024-05-06 11:33:32-04

GREAT FALLS — As the world’s climate changes, climate-smart agricultural practices are at the forefront of everyone’s mind.

The US Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) wants to remind producers that farm loan programs can be used in ways that support climate-smart agricultural practices.

Many such practices are already incorporated into farmers and ranchers’ routines, such as cover cropping, nutrient management, and conservation tillage.

Current farm loan programs offered by the FSA can help cover the costs to implement these practices. The USDA includes, “Establishment of rotational grazing systems, precision agriculture equipment or machinery for conversion to no-till residue management….livestock facility air scrubber or waste treatment, and cross fencing,” as items potentially covered by the loans.

The FSA is also doing what they can to streamline the loan-application process in order to make agricultural needs more accessible.

More information can be found here.