Arizona Climate-Smart Practices Program
Arizona Climate-Smart Practices Program is a pilot program designed by Arizona’s Conservation Districts, AACD, and diverse partner groups to encourage growers in Arizona to adopt climate-smart agriculture and forestry practices that will allow for abundant agriculture while using practices that conserve water, promote healthy soil, and mitigate climate change providing beneficial ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration. The Program also emphasizes cross-cultural knowledge sharing between Native American producers and other participants.
Program Participation
Producers who participate in the program will receive grant funds to help implement climate-smart practices that reduce pesticide and fertilizer inputs, reduce tillage, use diverse cover crops, rest pastures, and use rotational grazing on farms and ranches, and climate-smart commodities will be marketed through partnership networks.
To find out how to become a program participant, please email azclimatesmartcoordination@gmail.com@gmail.com
Targeted Climate Smart Commodities Practices
Conservation Cover
Conservation Crop Rotation
Residue and Tillage – No-Till
Cover Crop Acres
Residue and Tillage – Reduced Till
Mulching
Nutrient Management
Energy, Combustion, and Electricity Efficiency
Program Partners
USDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Grant Program
Through the USDA Climate-Smart Commodities Grant, the AACD and Program Partners were awarded $4.9 million in funds to support their Arizona Climate-Smart Practices Program. USDA is committed to supporting a diverse range of farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners through Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. This effort will expand markets for America’s climate-smart commodities, leverage the greenhouse gas benefits of climate-smart commodity production, and provide direct, meaningful benefits to production agriculture, including for small and underserved producers. Learn more here.