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Program List
Contact: USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service
The purpose of the program is to assist land-users, communities, units of state
and local government, and other Federal agencies in planning and implementing
conservation systems. The purpose of the conservation systems is to reduce
erosion, improve soil and water quality, improve and conserve wetlands, enhance
fish and wildlife habitat, improve air quality, improve pasture and range
condition, reduce upstream flooding, and improve woodlands.
Objectives of the program are to:
- Assist individual land users, communities, conservation districts, and
other units of state and local government and federal agencies to meet their
goals for resource stewardship and assist individuals to comply with state and
local requirements. NRCS assistance to individuals is provided through
conservation districts in accordance with the memorandum of understanding
signed by the Secretary of Agriculture, the Governor of the State, and the
conservation district. Assistance is provided to land users voluntarily
applying conservation and to those who must comply with local or state laws
and regulations.
- Assist agricultural producers to comply with the highly erodible land (HEL)
and wetland (Swampbuster) provisions of the 1985 Food Security Act as amended
by the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C.3801
et. seq.) and the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 and
wetlands requirements of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. NRCS makes HEL
and wetland determinations and helps land users develop and implement
conservation plans to comply with the law.
- Provide technical assistance to participants in USDA cost-share and
conservation incentive programs. (Assistance is funded on a reimbursable basis
from the CCC.)
- Collect, analyze, interpret, display, and disseminate information about
the condition and trends of the Nation's soil and other natural resources so
that people can make good decisions about resource use and about public
policies for resource conservation.
- Develop effective science-based technologies for natural resource
assessment, management, and conservation.
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Contact: USDA, Farm Service Agency or Natural Resources Conservation
Service
The Conservation Farm Option is a pilot program for producers of wheat, feed
grains, cotton, and rice. The program's purposes include conservation of soil,
water, and related resources, water quality protection and improvement, wetland
restoration, protection and creation, wildlife habitat development and
protection, or other similar conservation purposes. Eligibility is limited to
owners and producers who have contract acreage enrolled in the Agricultural
Market Transition Act program, i.e. production flexibility contracts. The CFO is
a voluntary program. Participants are required to develop and implement a
conservation farm plan. The plan becomes part of the CFO contract which covers a
ten year period. CFO is not restricted as to what measures may be included in
the conservation plan, so long as they provide environmental benefits. During
the contract period the owner or producer (1.) receives annual payments for
implementing the CFO contract and (2.) agrees to forgo payments under the
Conservation Reserve Program, the Wetlands Reserve Program, and the
Environmental Quality Incentives Program in exchange for one consolidated
payment.
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Contact: USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service
The Conservation of Private Grazing Land initiative will ensure that technical,
educational, and related assistance is provided to those who own private grazing
lands. It is not a cost share program. This technical assistance will offer
opportunities for: better grazing land management, protecting soil from erosive
wind and water, using more energy-efficient ways to produce food and fiber,
conserving water, providing habitat for wildlife, sustaining forage and grazing
plants; using plants to sequester greenhouse gases and increase soil organic
matter, and using grazing lands as a source of biomass energy and raw materials
for industrial products.
More information can be found at the
Grazing Lands
Technology Institute.
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Contact: USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service
The purpose of the program is to provide native plants that can help solve
natural resource problems. Beneficial uses for which plant material may be
developed include biomass production, carbon sequestration, erosion reduction,
wetland restoration, water quality improvement, streambank and riparian area
protection, coastal dune stabilization, and other special conservation treatment
needs. Scientists at the Plant
Materials Centers seek out plants that show promise for meeting an
identified conservation need and test their performance. After species are
proven, they are released to the private sector for commercial production. The
work at the 26 centers is carried out cooperatively with state and federal
agencies, commercial businesses, and seed and nursery associations.
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Contact: USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service
The Environmental Quality Incentives Program provides technical, educational,
and financial assistance to eligible farmers and ranchers to address soil,
water, and related natural resource concerns on their lands in an
environmentally beneficial and cost-effective manner. The program provides
assistance to farmers and ranchers in complying with Federal, State, and tribal
environmental laws, and encourages environmental enhancement. The program is
funded through the Commodity Credit Corporation. The purposes of the program are
achieved through the implementation of a conservation plan which includes
structural, vegetative, and land management practices on eligible land. Five to
ten-year contracts are made with eligible producers. Cost-share payments may be
made to implement one or more eligible structural or vegetative practices, such
as animal waste management facilities, terraces, filter strips, tree planting,
and permanent wildlife habitat. Incentive payments can be made to implement one
or more land management practices, such as nutrient management, pest management,
and grazing land management.
Fifty percent of the funding available for the program will be targeted at
natural resource concerns relating to livestock production. The program is
carried out primarily in priority areas that may be watersheds, regions, or
multi-state areas, and for significant statewide natural resource concerns that
are outside of geographic priority areas.
For additional information on what is available in
Nebraska, click here.
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Contact: USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service
The National Cooperative Soil
Survey Program (NCSS) is a partnership led by NRCS of federal land
management agencies, state agricultural experiment stations and state and local
units of government that provide soil survey information necessary for
understanding, managing, conserving and sustaining the nation's limited soil
resources.
Soil surveys provide an orderly, on-the-ground, scientific inventory of soil
resources that includes maps showing the locations and extent of soils, data
about the physical and chemical properties of those soils, and information
derived from that data about potentialities and problems of use on each kind of
soil in sufficient detail to meet all reasonable needs for farmers, agricultural
technicians, community planners, engineers, and scientists in planning and
transferring the findings of research and experience to specific land areas.
Soil surveys provide the basic information
needed to manage soil sustainably. They also provide information needed to
protect water quality, wetlands, and wildlife habitat. Soil surveys are the
basis for predicting the behavior of a soil under alternative uses, its
potential erosion hazard, potential for ground water contamination, suitability
and productivity for cultivated crops, trees, and grasses. Soil surveys are
important to planners, engineers, zoning commissions, tax commissioners,
homeowners, developers, as well as agricultural producers. Soil surveys also
provide a basis to help predict the effect of global climate change on worldwide
agricultural production and other land-dependent processes. The
NRCS Soil Survey Division through its
World Soil Resources
Staff helps gather and interpret soil information for global use.
NRCS provides the soil surveys for the
privately owned lands of the nation and, through its
National Soil Survey Center, provides
scientific expertise to enable the NCSS to develop and maintain a uniform system
for mapping and assessing soil resources so that soil information from different
locations can be shared, regardless of which agency collects it. NRCS provides
most of the training in soil survey to Federal agencies and assists other
Federal agencies with their soil inventories on a reimbursable basis. NRCS is
also responsible for developing the standards and mechanisms for providing
digital soil information
for the national spatial data infrastructure required by Executive Order 12906.
Click here for
additional soils information.
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