RF Conservation Districts

09/18/2026

NACD Blog: Restoring the Arkansas River Corridor: Turning Invasive Tamarisk into Conservation Success
By Nicole Poitra
09/14/2026

Ducks Unlimited works directly with private landowners to plan and carry out restoration, with local conservation districts playing an important role in connecting the project with landowners. The Kearny County Conservation District has been the primary district involved, with Finney and Hamilton County Conservation Districts also supporting the effort. The districts help promote the project, educate landowners about the restoration work, and connect interested landowners with Ducks Unlimited.

This is our neighbors in Garden City, Lakin, and Syracuse, Kansas.

09/08/2026

USDA: Secretary Rollins Announces Ranchers First Initiatives to Rebuild the Great American Beef Herd
08/31/2026

Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced the Ranchers First Initiative, a sweeping package of actions to continue rebuilding the Great American Beef Herd and put America’s ranchers back at the center of our nation’s food supply. Building on USDA’s October 2025 Plan to Fortify the American Beef Industry, the Trump Administration is delivering again.

08/24/2026

Progressive Farmer: Inside a USDA Staff Shortage
By Jake Zajkowski
08/13/2026

The 2025 reduction in force, initiated under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), offered buyouts through the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) and terminated probationary employees, eliminating thousands of positions across the two agencies. That included roughly 795 FSA employees and 2,657 NRCS employees, along with an 8% reduction in local FSA staffing, or 1,082 employees, in 2025.

08/03/2026

USDA: Secretary Rollins Launches USDA Initiative to Recruit Veterans, Transitioning Service Members, and Military Spouses
07/29/2026

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins today announced a new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) initiative to recruit veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses into mission-critical careers that protect America’s food supply, strengthen rural communities, and defend the nation’s agricultural security.

07/13/2026

Drone Life: How Rural Colorado Is Putting Drones to Work for Conservation
By Vanessa Trout | Meeker, CO | Southwest Region
07/08/2026

The White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts, based in Meeker, Colorado, are developing a Drone Services Program aimed at helping agricultural producers, watershed groups, and land managers make faster, safer, and more informed decisions across working lands and natural resource projects.

06/18/2026

USDA-NRCS: USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service Unveils New Conservation Priorities to Keep Working Lands in Working Hands
06/12/2026

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is putting farmers first and reaffirming this commitment by updating its strategic priorities, motto and mission and vision statements for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). These updates complement NRCS’s historic role in providing practical, voluntary, and locally led conservation solutions for producers.

06/15/2026

06/08/2026

Ag Web: USDA Rule Makes it Easier for Farmers to Get Payments
By Haley Bickelhaupt
06/03/2026

USDA has finalized new payment-limit rules that will give many farm operations organized as LLCs, S corporations and other pass-through entities a clearer path to receiving farm program payments. The final rule went into effect June 2 and will begin with the 2026 crop year. Under the new guidance, each equal owner who is actively engaged in farming may qualify for a separate payment limit, rather than the entity being treated as a single recipient

05/04/2026

Every year NRCS would like feedback and input from local producers. Some years we’ve held a Local Work Group meeting to get that feedback. Once we did it at the annual meeting. This year we are conducting an online survey. We would certainly like your thoughts. Click on the link below to arrive at the survey. It will only take 10 or so minutes.
Survey
https://forms.gle/uP9gqLYgVjVUaEQq9
Questions? Help?
Call Jill at 719-652-3020 or 719-977-3300

The purpose of this survey is to get producer input at the local level to help improve upon NRCS delivery of our programs and technical support. Your survey answers will remain anonymous. The estimated time to complete this survey is 10-12 minutes. For all questions, please check as many boxes as ar...

05/04/2026

NACD: NACD Applauds House Farm Bill Passage
04/30/2026

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (H.R. 7567) with bipartisan support. The Act supports key programs, under Title II, that conservation districts help deliver each day, such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), and Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).