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Welcome to NRCS Economics

Updated 10/23/2008

Cover of Ecosystem Services Derived from Wetland Conservation Practices in the United States Prairie Pothole Region with an Emphasis on the U.S. Department of Agriculture Conservation Reserve and Wetlands Reserve Programs.

Study Highlights Benefits of Conservation and Wetlands Reserve Programs

A recent study concludes that the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) provide benefits on more than 5 million acres of wetland and adjacent grassland habitat in the Prairie Pothole Region of the Northern Great Plains. Among the findings, soil loss was reduced on 682,048 acres of upland CRP and WRP land by an estimated average of 1.9 million tons per year.

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Flower image for Spring  

Updated Normalized Prices, Price Indexes and FY09 Federal Discount Rates

Use 4.6% discount rate for cost calculations based on the OMB Appendix C: Discount Rates for Cost-Effectiveness, Lease-Purchase, and Related Analyses.  Use  4 7/8% for use for FY08 Water Resource Projects. FY08 Normalized Prices are available.  Spreadsheet of the most common indexes and discount rates, updated 10/16/2008 (XLS, 79KB)
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Cows in animal housing facility.

Animal Housing Estimator
Irrigation Cost Estimator
Nitrogen Cost Estimator
Tillage Energy Cost Estimator

USDA's New Web-based Awareness Tool Estimates Energy Use for Animal Housing

USDA unveiled the Energy Estimator for Animal Housing, a Web-based energy awareness tool designed to help agricultural producers reduce energy costs related to animal housing.
Link to NRCS Energy Estimator for Nitrogen        ...More Info
 
US States  

State NRCS Economics Webpages

The NRCS State Economic Web-pages are updated.
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NRCS Economics Sharepoint Site

Practice Payment Schedule Sharepoint Site