Update April 22, 2025
Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment has received a termination notice from the USDA regarding our Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities (PCSC) grant, which was under contract to run from 2023-2028. For that grant, our indirect (overhead) expenses were set at 10%. Our direct expenses included critical payments to farmers in support of practice transition, but also investments in other areas of agricultural support (including technical assistance, soil analysis, and data systems and technology development). Because our grant was designed this way, we did not meet the new 65% direct-to-farmer payment threshold. We have the opportunity to reapply to the new Advancing Markets for Producers (AMP) program and are currently working to evaluate this opportunity. The deadline for submitting updated materials is June 20th.
Original Post
Since the end of January, Wolfe’s Neck Center has been navigating a massive amount of uncertainty connected to our funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It is a complex situation that is hitting us and our partners hard.
70% of our 2025 budget comes from the USDA, supporting our work to:
- Provide training and technical assistance to farmers
- Measure the impact of farm practice changes on soil health and other climate impacts
- Support regenerative practice adoption by farmers in the supply chains of food retailers and food companies (e.g., KIND)
- Develop systems and technologies to improve data collection, analysis, and exchange to help farmers and ranchers access incentives and markets
Our funding from the USDA is spread across multiple cooperative agreements and grants. While all of our agreements continue to face the threat of changes, the largest – Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities (PCSC) – remains frozen. We are in year 3 of 5 of this $35m grant; most of those funds go directly to farmers to implement regenerative growing practices and to measure the impact of those practices. In 2025, we are at the height of implementation for this program.
We’ve been included in a few items of press coverage: NewsCenter Maine; Civil Eats; WGME. Ellen Griswold, our managing director of programs is quoted in the Civil Eats article:
“USDA funding, quite frankly, has been transformative for the regenerative agriculture movement. … It’s a critical source of support, and if we see that it’s not continuing, it will certainly have significant ripple effects throughout the agriculture sector and especially for farmers who are interested in transitioning to regenerative practices.”
In recent years, USDA funding has helped us increase our effectiveness as an organization. We have been able to better integrate our program areas and the operational support for those programs. As Dave Herring, our Executive Director, has described it, we knitted a beautiful sweater and now we are being forced to pull out a number of strands of yarn. While it is painful to see this “sweater” that we have worked so hard on unraveling, it does not mean the PCSC work will end. Across the board, we are seeing opportunities to continue the work on a different scale.
Our approach to navigating this uncertainty has been to focus on what we know and can control, support our team, and identify opportunities to continue work without the USDA. In mid-March, about 25% of our staff was notified that if PCSC is not restored, they will be furloughed in mid-April and their role will be terminated at the end of May. Despite this difficult reality, we are not giving up. We are actively engaged with local and national advocacy efforts, and are staying closely connected with the Maine Congressional delegation as various legal avenues are being pursued. And we are committed to continuing the PCSC work we started.
To say these past several weeks have been discouraging and unsettling is an understatement. While we’re not out of the woods yet, given our multiple areas of programming – farmer training, research, experiential education – the USDA agreements and private philanthropic support that are continuing, we have much to look forward to and feel optimistic about.
Grounding Ourselves at the Farm
At our core, Wolfe’s Neck Center is the farm and campus that means so much to so many. After many years as an organic farm operation, Wolfe’s Neck was incorporated as a nonprofit (in 1997) for the purpose of “demonstration and operation of organic ‘alternative’ agricultural farming and conservation activities and techniques, and research [and] education”. Today, consistent with our founding purpose, we are dedicated to creating a world where agriculture and food systems support farmer viability, thriving ecosystems, and vibrant communities. Now more than ever, we are uniquely positioned to engage and convene people around food, and the importance of strong, resilient regional food systems.
And as always, we’re finding joy in welcoming new faces – human and animal! – to our campus each day. We hope to see you soon!
← Back to Blog