Agriculture technology firm Farmers Business Network (FBN), San Carlos, Calif., and the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund are starting a $25 million pilot fund that rewards farmers who meet soil health standards and use nitrogen fertilizer efficiently, Bloomberg reported.
The fund, which Bloomberg said will try to incentivize farmers to adopt more sustainable growing methods due to the impacts of climate change, will provide one-year lines of credit of up to $5 million, with lower rates and fees, to 30-40 farmers. The fund is reportedly enrolling farmers growing a combination of corn, soybeans, and wheat, and Bloomberg said FBN hopes to scale the fund to $500 million over three years.
“What we’ve seen is as farmers improve the health of their soil, they’re improving organic matter, then they don’t need as much” fertilizer and other inputs, Maggie Monast, Senior Director of Climate-Smart Agriculture at EDF, said in an interview with Bloomberg.