(NAFB) – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Wednesday announced a $3 billion comprehensive set of investments to address challenges facing farmers and ranchers.

USDA says the investments will support drought resilience and response, animal disease prevention, market disruption relief, and purchase food for school nutrition programs. The support will be made available via the Commodity Credit Corporation. Specifically, the package includes $500 million each for drought, African swine fever, and market disruptions, and up to $1.5 billion to provide assistance to help schools respond to supply chain disruptions.

Secretary Vilsack also outlined and requested public comments on a new climate partnership initiative designed to create new revenue streams for producers via market opportunities for commodities produced using climate-smart practices.

Vilsack adds, “Today, we ask for public input to inform our decision making and enhance the design of this initiative.”

USDA is seeking input specifically on the current state of climate-smart commodity markets, systems for quantification, and potential protocols, among other topics.