The following is an excerpt of the full announcement.

South Dakota State University today announced that it will receive up to $80 million for the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Initiative. The USDA is investing up to $2.8 billion in 70 selected projects under the first pool of funding opportunities.

The USDA’s website lists the approximate funding ceiling for SDSU at $80 million, making it the largest grant ever received by the university. Final funding levels will be determined in the coming months.Titled “The Grass is Greener on the Other Side: Developing Climate-Smart Beef and Bison Commodities,” SDSU’s project will create market opportunities for beef and bison producers who utilize climate-smart agriculture grazing and land-management practices. The project will guide and educate producers on climate-smart practices most suited for their operations, manage large-scale climate-smart data that will be used by producers to improve decision-making and create market demand for climate-smart beef/bison commodity markets.

Other major partners on the project include Millborn Seeds, Buffalo Ridge Cattle Company, AgSpire, Tanka Fund, Cold Creek Buffalo Company, SDSU Extension, the SDSU Center of Excellence for Bison Studies, the National Bison Association, Texas A&M University, Yard Stick, C-Lock and SmartScore.ai.

If you’d like to read the full announcement of regarding this grant go to the SDSU website.

SDARL alumni who were part of the grant announcement
SDARL alumni who were part of the grant announcement (from left) Joe Cassady, Dean of CAFES at SDSU; Zach Anderson, CFO of Millborn Seeds; Kristi Cammack, SDSU West River Ag Center; Jarod Knock, (SDARL Class VIII) AgSpire; Vivian Georgalas, AgSpire, Matt Fenske, CEO of Millborn Seeds; Shannon Kubik (SDARL Class XI) Millborn Seeds; SDSU President Barry Dunn; Amanda Blair, SDSU Extension Specialist; Ryan Eichler, Director of Sales at Millborn Seeds; Bob Thaler, (SDARL Class III) SDSU; Daniel Scholl, SDSU Vice President for Research & Economic Development; and Marcus Heemstra, (SDARL Class XI) President of Millborn Seeds. Also present at the event but not pictured are John Anderson, (SDARL Class IV) USDA; Lora Berg, (SDARL Class X) SDSU; and Tom Fishback, (SDARL Class X) Market President, First Bank & Trust
Jared Knock (SDARL Class VIII) VP of Development for AgSpire
Jared Knock (SDARL Class VIII) VP of Development for AgSpire spoke at the event.

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