Advancing Markets for Tribal Buffalo

Notice: _On April 14, 2025, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the cancellation of the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities (PCSC). The USDA plans to reform the program into the Advancing Markets for Producers (AMP) initiative. Contact your local USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) for more information on how to apply to the AMP initiative. _

Partners plan to distribute project funding to 76 Tribes to incentivize their use of climate-smart practices related to buffalo herds. The Tribal Buffalo Market Initiative (TBMI) plans to assist Tribes in marketing their buffalo as a climate-smart commodity, develop sustainable programs for historically underserved Tribal buffalo producers and create a Tribally led national strategy for education and outreach of buffalo as a climate-smart agricultural product.

Individual producers cannot enroll. This project enrolls Tribes, not individuals — participation runs through the InterTribal Buffalo Council (ITBC) and its member Tribal nations.

The scope statement, verbatim: "This project will expand Tribally-managed buffalo meat markets in ITBC's 86-member Tribal nations' lands." Every project activity is described at the level of the enrolled Tribe — "Conducting field measurements including biological surveys on each enrolled site" — and the market platform is "a standalone website for enrolled Tribes to sell their buffalo meat to external markets, if they so choose." Outreach materials go to "InterTribal Buffalo Council Member Tribes and their 1 milion+ enrolled Tribal members."

What must be produced: Tribally-managed buffalo (bison). ITBC states that "Tribally-managed buffalo programs represent a wide range of geographies, climates, herd sizes, goals, and available resources," and that current NRCS conservation practices "will be reviewed by the team and ones that relate to Tribal buffalo production will be adopted into the program" — so no fixed practice list, herd-size floor, or acreage minimum exists to meet.

No eligibility criteria, application, or deadline are published, and there is no public application round. Enrollment is by inquiry and assessed case by case: "If you interested in participating in the Advancing Markets for Tribal Buffalo project, please contact" Michael Borucke, Grant Coordinator, michael@itbcbuffalonation.org, (605) 394-9730. ITBC's site also carries a membership route for Tribes that are not members ("JOIN ITBC"), though whether ITBC membership is a hard requirement for this project is not stated.

Status. The project is now funded under USDA's Advancing Markets for Producers (AMP) initiative, the successor to Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities: "The USDA has awarded the InterTribal Buffalo Council a grant of approximately $5 million over a three-year period." There is no open intake window — ask the grant coordinator whether enrollment is still being taken.

No producer-facing award size, payment rate, cost-share percentage, or match requirement is published for this project.

The only dollar figure on the page is the award to the lead organization: "The USDA has awarded the InterTribal Buffalo Council a grant of approximately $5 million over a three-year period. This project will expand Tribally-managed buffalo meat markets in ITBC's 86-member Tribal nations' lands." (For context on the wider initiative: "USDA is investing more than $3.1 billion for 141 projects through this effort and all the projects require meaningful involvement of small and under-served producers.")

What an enrolled Tribe gets is described only in kind, never in dollars: field measurements and biological surveys on each enrolled site to "track and verify land restoration benefits associated with Tribally managed buffalo herds"; technical assistance for market development; outreach and education materials marketing buffalo as Tribally-managed; support for "a Native graduate student and rangeland managers on conservation practices during all phases of the project"; and "a standalone website for enrolled Tribes to sell their buffalo meat to external markets, if they so choose."

There is no published application with terms attached — interested Tribes are told: "If you interested in participating in the Advancing Markets for Tribal Buffalo project, please contact" the grant coordinator (Michael Borucke, michael@itbcbuffalonation.org).

If you are interested in participating, please reach out to the contacts listed on the "Contact Coordinator" button.