NRCS Announces Additional Conservation Funding Opportunities for Pennsylvania Producers
Apply by March 20, 2023
HARRISBURG, PA — February 17, 2023 – The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is making funding available for agricultural producers and forest landowners nationwide to participate in voluntary conservation programs and adopt climate-smart practices. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provided an additional $19.5 billion over five years for climate smart agriculture through several of the conservation programs that NRCS implements. In Pennsylvania, NRCS is making available $8.3 million in fiscal year 2023 for its oversubscribed conservation programs: the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP).
“These funds will provide direct climate mitigation benefits and will expand access to financial and technical assistance for producers to advance conservation on their farm, or forest land through practices like cover cropping, conservation tillage, prescribed grazing, nutrient management, tree planting and more.” Said Denise Coleman, State Conservationist.
The increased funding levels begin in fiscal year 2023 and rapidly build over four years. These additional investments are estimated to help farmers apply conservation to millions of acres of land across the U.S.
Program Options
CSP helps you build on your existing conservation efforts while strengthening your operation. Whether you are looking to improve grazing conditions, increase crop yields, or develop wildlife habitat, we can custom design a CSP plan to help you meet those goals.
EQIP provides cost share assistance for producers to use 170-plus conservation practices to address a wide variety of resource concerns. Within EQIP, Conservation Incentive Contracts allow producers to further target priority resource concerns.
How to Apply
NRCS accepts producer applications for its conservation programs year-round, but producers interested in EQIP or CSP should apply by Pennsylvania’s ranking dates to be considered for funding in the current cycle. Interested producers should submit applications by March 20, 2023 for the first ranking deadline. Funding is provided through a competitive process and will include an opportunity to address the unmet demand from producers who have previously sought funding for climate-smart conservation activities.
For more information, please visit us at http://www.pa.nrcs.usda.gov, or contact your local office, which can be found at www.farmers.gov/service-locator.
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