Read the full story at Fast Company.
One of the most important environmental jobs frequently gets a cold shoulder, despite being crucial to agricultural sustainability. Its practitioners work outdoors, helping farmers and ranchers achieve their conservation goals. The roles are remarkably varied and include everything from boosting soil health, sequestering carbon, and adding wildlife habitats to installing the necessary infrastructure to best reap conservation benefits. Scientists say they are critical to mitigating climate-change risks.
But almost no one knows who they are.
Technical service providers play a critical role in helping farmers and ranchers transition to more sustainable practices. The vast majority of public- and private-sector climate programs require farmers to get TSPs’ help with planning, implementing, and measuring climate benefits to get funding and to be eligible for participation in private-sector supply chains. They serve as an independent expert and sign on the dotted line to confirm climate activities are implemented according to the approved scientific and technical standards. But despite the crucial nature of the job, there simply aren’t enough TSPs to match the demand. And with tens of billions of dollars flowing into U.S. agriculture as a result of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, filling these roles is only going to be more important.
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