‘Green new scam.’ Trump administration terminates largest grant in U of I history
The U.S. Department of Agriculture canceled the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program on Monday, effectively terminating the largest grant in University of Idaho history.
U of I was awarded nearly $59 million for its Innovative Agriculture and Marketing Partnership project, which was designed to provide payment directly to Idaho producers for developing sustainable agricultural practices.
The project aimed to incentivize climate-smart practices in Idaho agricultural industries such as barley, beef, chickpeas, hops, potatoes, sugar beets and wheat by encouraging farmers and ranchers to adopt agronomic practices intended to improve soil health and keep greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere, according to U of I’s website.
“The Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities initiative was largely built to advance the green new scam at the benefit of (nongovernmental organizations), not American farmers,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a news release.
“The concerns of farmers took a backseat during the Biden Administration. During my short time as Secretary, I have heard directly from our farmers that many of the USDA partnerships are overburdened by red tape, have ambiguous goals, and require complex reporting that push farmers onto the sidelines. We are correcting these mistakes and redirecting our efforts to set our farmers up for an unprecedented era of prosperity.”
Rollins was nominated to the position by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
The USDA plans to relaunch the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program as the Advancing Markets for Producers initiative. The program will now require that a minimum of 65% of federal funds go to producers. U of I has the opportunity to resubmit a proposal by June 20, with adjustments to meet the new criteria.
“While we are disappointed by the USDA decision to terminate the IAMP grant, we are thankful for the opportunity to resubmit our proposal,” IAMP co-director Sanford Eigenbrode said in a news release. “… We are in a good position to reconfigure the project to meet those guidelines.”
According to the University of Idaho, the university’s original IAMP project allocated more than 50% of funding for direct incentive payments to producers, with the rest of the grant, excluding direct administrative costs, “intended to provide technical and marketing services to enrolled producers — saving them the cost of contracting those services independently.”
University staff and graduate students had hoped to collect and analyze data from the program to help producers make informed decisions about how IAMP practices would affect their bottom line, reducing the risk to producers to engage in new practices.
The IAMP project had already received applications from 201 Idaho producers representing 27 Idaho counties across seven commodities, according to the U of I. The USDA said it would honor all eligible expenses incurred prior to April 13.
This story was originally published April 16, 2025 at 2:27 PM.
