Virginia Tech alumna joins Alliance to Advance Climate-Smart Agriculture team

Rebekah Slabach ’16 is making an impact in the field of agriculture as the new associate director for the Alliance to Advance Climate-Smart Agriculture. Slabach, a second-generation Hokie, earned dual bachelor's degrees in agricultural sciences and agricultural and applied economics.

The Alliance to Advance Climate-Smart Agriculture is a three-year, $80 million program funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and will pilot a program that pays producers to implement climate-smart practices on farms of all sizes and commodities – an initiative that could have significant impacts on curbing climate-changing gasses.

The three-year pilot program will be created in Virginia, Arkansas, Minnesota, and North Dakota to test the feasibility of rolling out a similar program on a national scale. If scaled up nationally, the program could help producers reduce agricultural emissions by 55 percent and total emissions in the United States by 8 percent after 10 years. Practices to help reduce agricultural emissions could include carbon elimination, greenhouse gas reduction, improved soil health, water quality, water conservation, and other vital ecosystem services.

In her role, Slabach will work to generate and steward relationships and opportunities to deliver private market benefits to producers. She's currently collaborating with Sustainable Food Lab, a nonprofit organization, to develop and launch a prototype climate-smart certificate for producers. Additionally, she coordinates the Advisory Council and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee activities. Slabach's work also includes recruiting new producers and producer groups into the program with a particular focus on reaching underrepresented and historically underserved producers.

To align with the Justice40 goals to include historically underserved farmers and ranchers, at least 40 percent of participants will be underserved – reaching at least 1,800 operations across the four participating states. These producers will qualify for an additional equity payment to help them install climate-smart practices.

“Giving back is part of being a Hokie,” Slabach said. “I am able to use my role as a platform to help farmers be productive, profitable, and resilient in overcoming challenges and walking forward in opportunities. Agriculture is a livelihood and backbone of communities and the economy.”

Agriculture has always been part of Slabach's life. She grew up on a livestock farm in Southern Virginia and refined her passion for agriculture as a youth through 4-H, FFA, and Envirothon. She previously worked as an agriculture and natural resource Extension agent with Virginia Cooperative Extension in Halifax County and holds a master's degree in integrated resource management from Colorado State University.

The alliance is open to farmers and ranchers within the four participating states. The applicant selection model includes criteria such as diversity of commodities, operation size, underrepresented producers, and previous adoption of climate-smart practices. Over three years, the program will enroll an estimated 1,100 to 1,200 farms in each of the four states, for a total reach of 4,400 to 4,800 operations.

Jamie Lucero ’21 is the project director for the pilot program.

“The alliance is focused on learning how we can best support producers to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices that will benefit society and enhance the sustainability and profitability of agriculture,” Lucero said. “Rebekah’s expertise will be crucial to achieving these goals and we are grateful to have her as a member of the alliance team.”

 Each of the enrolled farms supports the Virginia Tech research agenda:

• Measure the impact of climate-smart practices on greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration
• Quantify the economic and environmental benefits of adopting climate-smart practices
• Estimate impacts on productivity, following the adoption of climate-smart practices
• Evaluate consumer willingness to pay for various climate-smart labels
• Design incentives to support high-cost, high-impact greenhouse gas mitigating opportunities in the livestock sector

Virginia Tech faculty in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics are working with the alliance to support the university's research agenda by examining different elements of the program under the coordination of co-principal investigator Matthew T. Holt, department head and professor.

• Assistant Professor Elinor Benami is focused on implementing a producer selection process that will allow the team to credibly measure the program’s impact and examine the factors influencing the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices. 
• Benami will join Assistant Professor and Kohl Junior Faculty Fellow John Bovay and Assistant Professor Chi Ta to evaluate the demand for climate-smart products through supermarket-based experiments with shoppers. 
• Assistant Professor Wei Zhang is focused on the design of payment schemes to reflect ecosystem service values, minimize transaction costs, and support water quality compliance.

The pilot project is led by Virginia Tech and principal investigator Tom Thompson, associate dean in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, director of CALS Global, and a professor of agronomy, and supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities with participation from more than 14 state and national partners. To learn more about this project and how producers can sign up, visit the website or email allianceforcsa@vt.edu.