The Digest’s 2023 Multi-Slide Guide to USDA Rural Development

The Inflation Reduction Act provides nearly $40 billion for USDA over the next 10 years to improve life and livelihoods in rural communities. Specific investments include: $19.3 billion for climate-smart agriculture on farms, ranches, and forests; $13.4 billion to lower costs for families and support goodpaying clean energy jobs in rural communities; and $5 billion to protect communities from wildfires and conserve forests. Investments will provide new sources of on-farm income and employment in rural communities, reduce energy costs, and help secure and strengthen American agriculture in the face of climate change, all while achieving significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. That’s just part of the overall USDA support for the bioeconomy. USDA Director, Office of Energy and Environmental Policy William Hohenstein presented these slides at ABLC 2023.