Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) provides cost share assistance to agricultural producers to voluntarily address issues such as water management, water quality, and erosion control by incorporating conservation into their farming operations. Producers may construct or improve water management structures or irrigation structures; plant trees for windbreaks or to improve water quality; and mitigate risk through production diversification or resource conservation practices, including soil erosion control, integrated pest management, or transition to organic farming.

Program Information

• National AMA program information

Farmers and ranchers can apply for financial assistance for many types of structural and management conservation practices, which address the resource concerns such as the following:

• Insufficient Water Supply for Livestock or Irrigation
• Pesticide or Nutrient Contamination of Ground or Surface Waters
• Ground and Surface Water Conservation

AMA Eligibility Requirements

Private landowners or lease holders in Hawaii who are engaged in livestock or crop production on eligible lands may apply for AMA.

Payment Schedules

Payment rates are offered for eligible conservation practices under the AMA program. Limited Resource Producers, Beginning Farmers and Ranchers, Veteran Farmer and Ranchers and Socially Disadvantaged applicants may be eligible for increased payment rates. See Payment Schedules below for listing of all Fiscal Year 2016 AMA Payment Schedules. 

Application Ranking and Selection Process

Applications for AMA are accepted on a continuous basis, however, NRCS establishes application “cut-off” or submission deadline dates for evaluation and ranking of eligible applications. Once an application is received by NRCS:

1. NRCS will contact the applicant to conduct an evaluation and ranking of the application.
2. The application will be ranked against all of the other applications within Pacific Island Area fund pools.
3. NRCS will notify the applicant in writing of program eligibility or ineligibility, application deferral, or pre-approval for contract development.
4. If selected for funding, the contract development process will be initiated.

Applicants selected for funding are not authorized to begin the installation of a conservation practice until they have a CCC-1202 Conservation Program Contract, signed by a CCC representative (NRCS Assistant Director for Field Office Operations) conservation plan, with approved job sheets and designs, and any required permits.

The Ranking Templates used to rank AMA applications include questions that address various resource concerns and range from Water Quality and Water Quantity to Soil Erosion and Plant/Animal Health. Once all applications have been ranked the allocation process will begin from the highest scoring applications to a set minimum threshold or until all funds have been exhausted.