CDFA and King County, Washington are excited to announce the completion of a strategic food systems financing plan! This plan includes a set of recommendations that position King County to be the leader in supporting the further restoration of the local and regional food system, and focuses on how development finance tools can be used to unlock capital for food and agriculture-related businesses, projects, and infrastructure.

Independent meat processors in Nebraska now have access to $10M in loan capital through the Center for Rural Affairs. The new initiative comes at a time when small lockers across the state have seen an increase in use as the national meat supply chain faltered. This boost to Nebraska's rural economy is made possible with a U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program grant.

The Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA) and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) Foundation are excited to announce their partnership to create the CDFA-NASDA Foundation Socially Disadvantaged Farmers & Ranchers Access to Capital Program in response to the USDA Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement 2501 Grant Program. This program will assist socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers in building successful operations by accessing sustainable business capital.

Los Angeles-based direct agriculture lender, PACT Capital announced its financing of a $20M permanent loan secured by 1,400+ acres of pistachios in California's Central Valley. The borrower, a farmer and marketer of both conventional and organic pistachios, was seeking a long-term lending relationship to assist with growth and new development.

Join CDFA for our upcoming Bond Finance Week! The Intro Bond Finance Course will take place on March 13-14 followed by the Advanced Bond Finance Course on March 15-16. Register for one or both of these courses to learn from experts about how to bring economic growth to your community by utilizing the vast resources of the bond finance industry.

King County, WA has a plan to convert a 40,000-square-foot South Seattle warehouse into a community food hub where farmers and hunger relief organizations can store, pack, and distribute produce to people facing hunger and food insecurity. The project is expected to be completed by 2024 and cost about $8M, with $4M in federal funding and $1M from a COVID recovery package approved by the Metropolitan King County Council already secured.

Stonyfield Farm is among businesses in Maine and New Hampshire that will benefit in $15.2M in renewable energy loans to Aligned Solar Partners from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Electric Infrastructure Loan program. Aligned Solar Partners, part of Aligned Climate Capital, is joining with energy provider Eversource to power the Stonyfield Farms processing plant in Londonderry with the USDA funding.

Pennsylvania is taking a big step forward in the world of organic farming. Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding announced $1.8M in targeted investments over three years to help Pennsylvania farmers and processors voluntarily transition to growing and producing organic products. This builds on momentum gained through the PA Farm Bill, which was passed last year with strong bipartisan support.

Anew Climate, LLC committed up to $640M to Terra Global Capital, LLC, a woman-led global leader in developing and financing nature-based climate solutions. Anew will be the anchor investor in Terra Bella Nature-Based Solutions Carbon Pool, a newly formed investment vehicle designed to finance the development of high-impact, multiple-benefit, verified emission reduction and removal projects in developing and emerging economies.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing more than $9.4M in 45 cooperative agreements that support innovative, scalable waste management plans to reduce and divert food waste from landfills. The Compost and Food Waste Reduction cooperative agreements, which are funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, are part of USDA's broad support for urban agriculture through its Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production.

CDFA // BNY Mellon Development Finance Webcast Series: P3 Financing Approaches for Broadband Infrastructure
February 21, 2023 - 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Eastern

CDFA Food Systems Finance Webinar Series: Bonds & Food Systems
February 28, 2023 - 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM Eastern

>>> VIEW THE FOOD SYSTEMS RESOURCE CENTER   
>>> VIEW THE AGRICULTURE RESOURCE CENTER   

To help local policymakers, leaders, advocates, researchers, and others understand policy options for communities seeking to increase access to healthy food, the Healthy Food Policy Project (HFPP) developed a framework to show how local law—including legislation, administrative regulations, and executive orders—can promote access to healthy food at various points along the food system. This framework also highlights planning documents such as comprehensive plans and sustainability plans which are often used to guide development and evaluation of local laws and other efforts.

>>> SEARCH FOOD SYSTEMS RESOURCES
>>> SEARCH AGRICULTURE RESOURCES