1. U.S. Department of Agriculture Structure and Programs
Roberta Parry
EPA Office of Water
May 19, 2011

2. USDA Organization Chart

3. USDA 2011 Budget

5. USDA and Conservation Voluntary Financial and technical assistance
~ $5 billion a year
Working lands or land retirement
Cross-Compliance for Commodity Programs
Conservation Compliance on Highly Erodible Land
Swampbuster/Sodbuster

6. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Organization
National Headquarters
National Policy
State Offices
State Conservationist
State Technical Committees
provide information, analysis, and recommendations on implementation, priorities and criteria for natural resources conservation
Request membership through the State Conservationist -- interest and relevant credentials
District Conservationists (county-level)
Local Working Groups
recommendations on local natural resource priorities and criteria for conservation activities

7. USDA Conservation Programs Working Lands - NRCS
Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
Cost-share up to 75% for conservation practices
1-10 year contracts
Structural and management practices
$1 billion annually
By law, 60% must be used for livestock production
Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG)
Stimulate development and adoption of innovation conservation approaches, not research
Annual competitive grants at national and state levels
Eligibility: government, NGOs, individuals
50% matching requirement (25% can be in-kind)
~$25 million in FY 2011

8. USDA Conservation Programs Working Lands - NRCS
Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)
Payments for
Management and maintenance of existing conservation systems.
Adding additional conservation practices.
Eligibility, ranking, payment based on addressing state priority resource concerns
soil quality, soil erosion, water quality, water quantity, air quality, plant resources, and animal resources, energy
Funding: ~ $1 billion/year
Acreage: million acres/year
5-year contracts, potentially renewable
Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI)
special local and regional projects with farmers, ranchers, NGOs, states, tribes, etc.
~$100 million/yr, 6% of EQIP, CSP, and WHIP
Example: Mississippi River Basin Initiative

9. NRCS Conservation Practice Standards
~170 national standards
Basis of EQIP funding and technical assistance.
NRCS state offices develop state versions
Can be more restrictive, specific
Key Nutrient Practices
590 – Nutrient Management – Riparian forest buffer
633 – Waste Utilization – Waste Transfer
Cover Crops – Feed Management
393 – Filter Strip – Well Water Testing

10. USDA Land Retirement Programs
Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) NRCS
permanent or 30 year easements
~150,000 acres/year
Raised cap to million acres (from m acres)
Farm Services Agency (FSA)
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
Plant long-term resource-conserving covers to improve water quality, control soil erosion, and enhance wildlife habitat.
10 to 15 year contracts
32 million acre cap (down from 39.2 m acres)
General sign-up = bids based on national environmental index
Continuous sign-ups for “highly desirable environmental practices”: filter strips, grassed waterways, riparian buffers, public wellhead areas
Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)
Federal partnership with states, NGOs

11. Farm Services Agency (FSA) Organization
Farm commodity, credit, conservation, disaster, loan, and price support programs
HQ - Conservation
CRP regulations
Environmental Benefits Index
CRP sign-up decisions
State Offices
State Committees, appointed by USDA
County Offices
Elected farmer county committees
administer programs, provide policy guidance and determine who meets eligibility requirements for programs

12. National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
Formula funding -- state land grant universities, research stations.
Competitive research grants, includes Water Program.
Priorities: global food security and hunger, climate change sustainable energy, childhood obesity, food safety
FY 2012 proposed budget: $1.2 billion
research and education - $701 million
extension activities - $467 million
Cooperative Extension System
nationwide, non-credit educational network
state offices at land grant universities, local or regional offices
federal, state, and local funding
eXtension website

13. Other USDA Agencies Agriculture Research Service
USDA in-house research arm, 100 research locations
1,200 research projects within 22 National Programs
~$1 billion a year
National Agricultural Statistics Service
Census of Agriculture
Economic Research Service
Rural Development
Water/waste disposal loans, loan guarantees, and grants (<10,000 pop.)

14. USDA’s Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP)
Goals
Quantify environmental effects of conservation practices/programs at the watershed scale
New Vision: Integrate science into management of agricultural watersheds
National Components
Cropland: water quality/quantity, soil quality modeling
Grazing Lands
Wildlife Habitat
Wetlands – ecosystem services
Watersheds
Synthesis of CSREES (now NIFA) watershed research
Quantify effects of conservation practices at the watershed scale.
Validate models and quantify uncertainties.
Tools to optimize selection and placement of practices in a watershed.
Some projects have socio-economic and outreach components.
The purpose of the national assessment is to provide an accounting of the environmental benefits obtained from USDA conservation program expenditures for national reporting.
Estimates are designed to be as scientifically credible as possible, given the current state of analytical technology and scientific knowledge.
New insights and knowledge obtained in the watershed assessment studies and other scientific studies will be integrated into the national assessment as they become available, allowing us to revise initial estimates over time.
The NRCS and FSA accounting systems for practices implemented will be used as a basis for the national estimates.
Thus, program expenditures for a given year can be juxtaposed against the various benefits measures associated with the practices.
Analytical approaches are designed to produce estimates for national reporting. There may also be some regional-level reporting. CEAP is not designed to provide state or sub-state estimates.
All estimates of benefits will be reported in physical terms. It is currently beyond the scope of the project to report benefits in economic terms for national-level reporting. Note, however, that the Watershed Assessment Studies has an economic component that will attempt to assess benefits in economic terms for some watersheds.

15. CEAP Literature Reviews
Bibliography—7 volumes
Environmental Effects
Barriers and Incentives
Environmental Credit Trading
Reviews and the State of the Art and Research Needs.
Grazing Lands
Wetlands in Agricultural Landscapes
Effects of Agricultural Conservation Practices on Fish and Wildlife
Dynamic Bibliography
Web-based search engine
Literature Reviews
Cropland, fish and wildlife
Coming soon: wetlands, grazing

16. Farm Bill §1619 Any USDA employee/cooperator shall not disclose
information provided by an agricultural producer or land owner about the land, farm operation, or conservation practices 
GIS information
Exceptions
technical/financial assistance w/ consent
disease or pest threat
aggregate information
payment information

17. Contact Information
Roberta Parry EPA – Office of Water Senior Agriculture Advisor (202)