Small potatoes, but how many, and how large, are other Biden slush fund grants being burned around the country?

The Wolfe's Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment has confirmed to Maine's Total Coverage that it has lost $35 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The educational farm in Freeport said it received a termination notice from the USDA regarding its Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities (PCSC) grant, which was under contract to run from 2023-28.

“Climate-Smart Programs”

The PCSC program was started under the Biden Administration in an effort to incentivize farmers and other agricultural stakeholders to implement climate-smart production methods in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve soil health, sequester carbon, enhance productivity and build revenue.

Last week, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the cancellation of the PCSC program and called it a "Biden era climate slush fund." According to Rollins, the majority of PCSC projects had high administration fees which provided less than half of the federal funding directly to federal farmers in many instances.

The USDA did state it would review existing PCSC grant agreements based on several policy priorities, including ensuring a minimum of 65% of funding going to producers.

The Wolfe's Neck Center said its PCSC-funded work included payments to farmers who were transitioning to climate-smart practices, its program also invested directly in other areas of agricultural support. Those areas included technical assistance, soil analysis and data systems and technology development. As a result, the Wolfe's Neck Center does not meet the USDA's new 65% direct-to-farmer payment threshold.

The USDA also announced that it has reformed and overhauled the PCSC program into the Advancing Markets for Producers initiative. The department said it has identified changes to align the initiative with the Trump administration's current priorities.

The Wolfe's Neck Center said it has the opportunity to reapply to the new Advancing Markets for Producers program and is currently working to evaluate the opportunity. The deadline to submit updated materials to the USDA is June 20.