The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday that will invest $285 million in rural development projects including more than $1 million in grants designated for 18 Arkansas projects.
The funding is designated for infrastructure to combat climate change and expand access to clean energy in rural areas of 46 states, according to a USDA news release.
Most Arkansas projects chosen will go toward solar system installations or to make the switch from diesel to electric irrigation pump motors.
Arkansas recipients will get grant funding to install solar projects on farms, ranches, rural family-owned businesses; recipients are building supply, energy companies or storage businesses; or farmers specializing in rice, oilseed and grain production, poultry and cattle.
The solar projects could save farmers tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the project.
Helios Energy, LLC will receive $97,416 to install a 190.08 kilowatt solar array in Hot Springs.
Alcora Corp. will get $46,500 to install a 12o kilowatt solar array at its retail hardware operation, Village True Value Home Center, in Hot Springs.
The USDA said it is also allocating an additional $300 million under the Rural Energy for America Program which includes $250 million from the Inflation Reduction Act that was signed into law in August.
The deadline to apply for Rural Energy for America Program grants is March 31, 2023 and applications for technical assistance grants are due Jan. 31; applications for loan guarantees will be accepted year-round.
Arkansas sustainability pilot projects aimed at uplifting underserved farmers, incentivizing greenhouse gas emissions reductions and opening new markets for growers have received approval for grants worth millions of dollars in total this year.
The USDA announced a second round of funding for the Biden Administration's Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program to support sustainability in agriculture projects on Monday at Tuskegee University in Alabama.
From the second pool of Climate-Smart Commodities money, 28 Arkansas projects were chosen; including an up to $3.7 million wood products project led by the University of Arkansas System; an up to $20 million rice and beef project led by Little Rock-based Winrock International and includes Stuttgart-based Riceland Foods, Inc.; an up to $80 million rice project led by USA Rice Federation, Inc.; and an up to $60 million beef, poultry, pork and corn project led by Springdale-based Tyson Foods, Inc.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visited England in Lonoke County on Sept. 14 to announce $2.8 billion had been allocated in the first round of funding for Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program funding.
USA Rice Federation, Winrock International and Tyson Foods received approval for major projects involving rice production, a few other row crops, cattle and poultry worth at least $160 million in total.