RIPE (Rural Investment to Protect our Environment) is a non-profit program dedicated to supporting bipartisan common sense climate policy by enabling America’s agricultural producers to earn a fair and profitable incentive from voluntary environmental stewardship practices. RIPE’s mission is to cultivate a coalition of agriculture leaders and environmental organizations to champion a climate policy that can secure bipartisan support for the needs of our nation’s growers and environment.
The RIPE Roadmap is a common sense policy proposal to compensate growers for voluntary stewardship practices at rates that reflect the ecosystem service values they deliver to society. Those values include public benefits to climate stabilization, water quality, water conservation, air quality, and soil health. The payment rates are designed to offer producers a fair and robust stewardship incentive that covers the full cost of the stewardship practice and carbon compensation, enabling farmers and ranchers to net a stewardship incentive that is fair and profitable.