WASHINGTON — The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) is providing up to $3 million for cooperative agreements to educate underserved, small-scale producers on risk management and climate-smart practices.

RMA’s Risk Management Education Partnerships offer funding for organizations like nonprofits and land grant universities to develop training and resources for farmers and ranchers.

“This funding is integral to our outreach efforts in communities that historically have not had access to training about risk management options,” said Marcia Bunger, RMA administrator. “Our Risk Management Education Partnerships are part of USDA’s broader efforts to ensure equity and access to programs. As a farmer, I know first-hand that agriculture is a risky business. We want to work with growers and livestock producers to provide them training and resources about risk management options and how to apply them to their farming businesses.”

Risk management training activities that are eligible for funding consideration include training on crop insurance options, record keeping, financial management, non-insurance-based risk management tools, natural disaster preparedness and securing local food systems through risk management.

Organizations interested in receiving a grant have until March 4 to apply.

The recently announced $3 million investment builds on $13 million that RMA has already provided in partnerships since 2021.

In 2023, RMA introduced new programs to better support a greater range of farmers and ranchers, including specialty crop, livestock, controlled environment and shellfish producers. The agency noted that last year it helped provide the largest farm safety net in history, a total of $207 billion in protection for US agriculture.