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2008 NRCS Farm Bill Conservation Programs in California

California Farm Bill - Conservation
Farm Bill 2008

Applications for funding through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) for fiscal year 2009 are being accepted at all NRCS-CA offices now through December 5, 2008. Click this link to read the news release. Find the NRCS-CA Office near you.

For information on how EQIP and other conservation programs have changed under the new legislation please see the chart created by USDA’s Economic Research Service http://www.ers.usda.gov/FarmBill/2008/.

EQIP is one of the conservation provisions made available in the new Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill), These programs provide technical and financial assistance opportunities for California’s farmers and ranchers through 2012. The new provisions expand upon existing programs while giving new emphasis to specialty crops, organic agriculture, forestry and conservation partnerships. 

A Place at the Table

The national Farm Bill conservation programs are tailored to California’s unique needs with the input of many state and local conservation and agricultural partners. The State Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) makes recommendations at the State level, advising the State Conservationist on how to balance the State’s many competing environmental enhancement needs on private farm and ranchland. Many of the initiatives and actions undertaken by California NRCS in the past decade began through discussions initiated in STAC meetings. California held its first STAC meeting following the passage of the 2008 Farm Bill on August 4, 2008. Click this link to see STAC meeting minutes.

The 2008 Farm Bill changed this input process by adding Local Work Groups (LWG) as formal subcommittees to the STAC. These Local Work Groups, as revised in the 2008 Farm Bill, are no longer subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) and thus are no longer limited to state and federal agencies.  The LWGs mirror the STAC on the local level, advising the local District Conservationist on how best to prioritize local resource needs and the Farm Bill programs that help address them.

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