The U.S. Department of Agriculture has launched a “Farmer First, Field Focused” pilot to better support farmers by strengthening conservation planning and streamlining financial assistance.
The pilot was rolled out in Hawaiʻi and eight other states. It emphasizes conservation planning before financial assistance. Producers will initially work one-on-one with officials to develop conservation plans based on their natural resource concerns and goals.
Technical staff will focus solely on conservation planning, while program specialists will manage contracts, payments and administrative tasks. This division of duties will allow field office staff to spend more time on the land delivering sound technical assistance.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service’s revamped approach will elevate locally led conservation priorities and give producers a more informed, transparent path to conservation planning and financial assistance, according to a press release.
“Our job is to help farmers and ranchers find practical conservation solutions that work for their operations, and that starts with listening to the producer and getting in the field,” said J.B. Martin, director of the Pacific Island area. “The ‘Farmer First, Field Focused’ pilot is about putting that work at the center of how we deliver conservation.
“By simplifying processes and giving producers a clear understanding of their conservation options, we can spend more time focused on what matters most — Keeping Working Lands in Working Hands.”
As part of the pilot, Hawaiʻi and other participating states will establish and communicate funding priorities with state and locally led input. Replacing the ranking process with a new, streamlined evaluation process will improve transparency, reduce unnecessary complexity and provide producers with clearer expectations about how applications are evaluated, the press release said.
Producers can expect less paperwork, clearer timelines and faster funding decisions.
The “Farmer First, Field Focus” pilot is expected to save more than 400,000 hours, repurpose nearly 1.4 million hours toward higher value field work and redirect $3 million to locally led conservation priorities.
For more information, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov.
