The Natural Resources Analysis Group (NRA), Economic Policy and Analysis Staff, serves the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and USDA as the primary analytical resource for the analysis of economic issues related to existing and proposed natural resource policies and programs. NRA provides analyses to assist FSA managers in carrying-out conservation programs. Most work relates to the Conservation Reserve Program. Much of this work involves confidential analyses and is not published. NRA also conducts cost-benefit assessments in support of the rule-making process for FSA conservation and disaster programs. NRA maintains State and county level databases of the Conservation Reserve Program, and manages FSA's performance measurement activities for the Conservation Reserve Program.

NRA advises FSA on the economics of the Conservation Reserve Program, the Emergency Conservation Program, the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, the Grassland Reserve Program, and the Farmable Wetland Program, and oversees the National Land Value Survey. NRA is responsible for analysis of all continuous sign-up programs, including high priority conservation practices, such as filter strips and riparian buffers.

NRA provides the primary Agency expertise for conservation and environmental program budgets within FSA and USDA. NRA oversees the formulation, analysis, and implementation of the FSA Environmental Benefits Index used to determine producer eligibility for participation in Agency conservation programs nationally. NRA develops and maintains national databases conducting economic studies, analyses, and appraisals of current and proposed programs and policies, and estimates the impacts of program and policy alternatives on supply and demand for agricultural commodities, commodity price and income support programs, and the consequent impact on America's farmland and natural resource base.

NRA also serves FSA as the key economic advisor on the wildlife impacts of the Conservation Reserve Program, the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, the Grassland Reserve Program, the Farmable Wetland Program, and the Emergency Conservation Program. NRA manages FSA conservation and environmental research projects focused on quantifying program outcomes, and making FSA conservation programs more effectively. NRA is also the agency authority on quantifying performance measures related to FSA conservation and environmental programs for use in the Budget and Performance Management System.

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 (4 MB)

Recreational Use & Economics of Conservation Reserve (CRP) Acreage: A National Survey of Landowners (1.20 MB)

Interagency Data Sharing Agreement: FSA, NRCS, USGS, and USFWS

Little Blue River Study

Treatment Wetlands: Cost-Effective Practice for Intercepting Nitrate Before it Reaches and Adversely Impacts Surface Waters

Program Fact Sheet ? CRP Benefits: Water Quality, Soil Productivity and Wildlife Estimates