WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2024 – The Biden-Harris Administration today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) supported more than 23,000 climate-focused conservation contracts funded by the Inflation Reduction Act. These investments cover over 11 million acres in fiscal year 2024, contributing to the highest total investment in private lands conservation in any year in the history of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, the largest investment in climate action in history, bolstered funding for NRCS’ in-demand conservation programs for climate-smart practices on farms, ranches, and forests. NRCS also released updated state-by-state data showing where financial assistance went in fiscal year 2024 for resources provided under both the Farm Bill and Inflation Reduction Act.
“This past year was another record-breaking one for America’s farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners, with more conservation assistance provided than ever before,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Producer demand for conservation assistance remains strong, and the Biden-Harris Administration continues to meet that demand by increasing capacity, streamlining programs and processes, building partnerships, and expanding opportunities to access conservation funding for America’s producers.”
Despite the additional Inflation Reduction Act funding, NRCS still did not fund nearly 64% of the applications received for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship (CSP) and Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) applications.
In fiscal year 2024, NRCS made over $3 billion available from the Inflation Reduction Act for climate-smart agriculture and forestry (CSAF) mitigation activities, in addition to the $2 billion available from the Farm Bill for all conservation activities. The agency obligated 97.6% of all available fiscal year 2024 Inflation Reduction Act conservation program financial assistance funds, or more than $1.6 billion, to farmers, ranchers and forest landowners across America. Learn more by using the Inflation Reduction Act Data Visualization Tool. Further details on program enrollment in fiscal year 2024 are also available in a fact sheet and in NRCS Financial Assistance Program Data.
This funding positively impacted farmers, ranchers and forest landowners across the nation. To highlight how meaningful this funding was to individual landowners, NRCS also released an interactive map that shows farmers, ranchers and forest landowners across the nation who are adopting climate-smart conservation practices with funding from the Inflation Reduction Act. Importantly, these investments provide critical co-benefits for farmers and communities, including for water conservation, wildlife habitat, soil health, and more.
For example, within the $5 billion-plus total available in fiscal year 2024, NRCS provided $3 billion (an increase of nearly $1 billion from fiscal year 2023 due to Inflation Reduction Act funding) in conservation investments in line with the agency’s Western Water Framework to help producers and communities in the West better steward water resources and build resilience to the impacts of drought. About 40%, or $1.2 billion, of this investment was funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, benefiting both water conservation and climate mitigation.
NRCS also continued full support for Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) in fiscal year 2024, including about $60 million to kickstart the migratory big game effort in the West and the grassland and northern bobwhite effort in the East. WLFW is NRCS’s premier approach to focus science-based financial and technical assistance to deliver win-win conservation solutions that benefit both people and wildlife.
To strengthen implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, NRCS increased staffing levels, streamlined its Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) and improved its ACEP program, and built partnerships with organizations to expand capacity to help provide assistance to producers.
For fiscal year 2025, the third year of implementation, NRCS is making up to $7.7 billion available for conservation and climate-smart practices through Farm Bill and Inflation Reduction Act funding.
A total of $19.5 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act is available over several years for climate-smart agriculture and forestry mitigation activities, including through NRCS conservation programs: EQIP, ACEP, RCPP and CSP. These programs also help advance the President’s Justice40 Initiative, which aims to ensure 40% of the overall benefits of certain climate, clean energy and other federal investments reach underserved communities.
To learn more about NRCS programs, producers can contact their local USDA Service Center. Producers can also apply for NRCS programs, manage conservation plans and contracts, and view and print conservation maps by logging into their farmers.gov account. If you don’t have an account, sign up today.
For more than 90 years, NRCS has helped farmers, ranchers, and forestland owners make investments in their operations and local communities to improve the quality of our air, water, soil, and wildlife habitat. NRCS uses the latest science and technology to help keep working lands working, boost agricultural economies, and increase the competitiveness of American agriculture. NRCS provides one-on-one, personalized advice and financial assistance and works with producers to help them reach their goals through voluntary, incentive-based conservation programs. Now, with additional funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, NRCS is working to get even more conservation practices on the ground while ensuring access to programs for all producers. For more information, visit nrcs.usda.gov.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit usda.gov.
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