American Lamb Board receives USDA sustainability grant

USDA received over 1,000 proposals.

Courtesy of the American Lamb Board

On Dec. 12, 2022, USDA announced its investment in 71 projects under the second funding pool of Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. This included a grant awarded to the American Lamb Board (ALB) for “Measuring the Climate Benefits and Emissions of Prescribed Sheep Grazing and Promoting the Consumption of Climate-Smart Lamb.”

“People who are likely to be lamb consumers seem inclined to use sustainability factors when making purchase decisions. This issue is moving beyond a trend so it’s time for the American Lamb industry to take more aggressive action,” says ALB Chairman Peter Camino. “We’ve chosen to take this new challenge as an opportunity. We’re working on projects now that should help producers increase productivity and lead to greater sustainability. So, it’s a win-win,” Camino adds.

The ALB grant project plans to measure and report carbon sequestration, soil health and other benefits, and associated ecosystem services provided by prescribed sheep grazing on four different pilot demonstration sites throughout the United States. The grant project also plans to market the resulting climate-smart lamb products. The USDA grant budget is $4.995 million.

ALB understands the importance of sustainability, including the industry’s environmental footprint. This new, multi-year project will complement the checkoff funded research nearing completion at Michigan State University, which is calculating emissions and developing mitigation strategies. “Quantifying the benefits of sheep grazing should bring value to the sheep industry and encourage sheep producers to further implement profitable grazing plans that enhance the environment,” says Camino.

USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities is working to expand markets for American producers who produce climate-smart commodities, leverage greenhouse gas benefits of climate-smart production and provide meaningful benefits to producers, including small and underserved producers. USDA received over 1,000 proposals.

Sources: American Lamb Resource Center; American Lamb Board; USDA

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

On-Demand Join us for an exclusive look into the future of the protein industry with The National Provisioner’s 2024 State of the Industry webinar, a key feature of our October eMagazine. Dive deep into transformative insights as consumer research experts from Circana take the stage.

IPPE 2025

The International Production & Processing Expo is the world's largest annual poultry and egg, meat, and animal food industry event of its kind. A wide range of domestic and international decision-makers attend this annual event to find solutions for their business, network with industry colleagues, and learn about the latest technological developments and issues facing the industry.

The 2025 IPPE already has 1,200+ exhibitors that will occupy more than 583,000+ square feet of exhibit space. The 2025 IPPE will offer timely and important information and an efficient way for producers and processors to find solutions to enhance their operations.

We look forward to being with you again at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. Mark your calendar to join us Jan. 28 - 30, 2025. You will not want to miss this "must-attend" event for our industries!