A warm holiday greeting to our partners! As we head into another busy season, the NRCS Outreach and Partnerships Division (OPD) is working diligently to finalize the 139 Equity in Conservation Outreach Cooperative Agreements announced this fall. This $70 million investment will provide critical resources to partners in their efforts to extend awareness of and access to NRCS's services and programs to all customers.
Below, read more about the successes of our current partners, meet more of our new agreement recipients, and learn more about how you can help NRCS spread the word about the assistance available to America's producers.
We always welcome your questions and suggestions. Contact us at: SM.FPAC.NRCS.DCWA2.MSOutreachandPartnership@usda.gov.
Ron Harris, Director, NRCS Outreach and Partnerships Division
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As winter approaches, many members of our community are celebrating holidays including Christmas, Hanukkah, Noche Buena, Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, Diwali, Bodhi Day and others. It's not a coincidence that each of these holidays take place when our days are at their darkest and that light is a central feature to all.
By building trusted relationships with faith and community leaders, we help communities of all sizes access USDA’s resources, nourish their kids and families, fight together against climate change, and counter antisemitism, Islamophobia and other forms of hatred and bias in their communities. We are proud to do this important work in partnership with USDA mission areas and offices and with all of you.
This year, let the celebration of light represents the potential that each of us has to bring light, warmth and love to this difficult world. During this holiday season when religiously motivated hate crimes are at a high, especially against people of Jewish and Muslim faiths, I encourage everyone to find ways to support members of their communities who fear for their safety, to learn about each other’s holiday traditions and celebrate together.
I hope that, for every one of us, this is a time to gather with family and friends, to reaffirm our shared values and to pray for a peaceful and prosperous new year.
Samantha Joseph, Director, Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
In November, members of the OPD team traveled to the NRCS National Leadership Team meeting Minneapolis to present two days of training to NRCS's State Outreach Coordinators. The group explored ways to more effectively reach underserved producers and shared successes achieved with the help of partners nationwide.
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The stories featured here represent just a fraction of the great work being done by our partners. For more success stories, or to find a full list of our FY22 agreement recipients, visit the OPD webpage.
Soil and Water Conservation Society
Longstanding NRCS Partner Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS) has existed for over 75 years as the premier international organization for all professionals who practice and advance the science and art of natural resource conservation. In 2022, SWCS received a $257,300 Cooperative Agreement to develop A Conservation Professionals’ Guide to Diversity, Equitable and Inclusive Conservation Delivery Among the Historically Underserved. The guidebook, currently under development, is scheduled for completion in 2024.
SWCS engaged Meridian Institute to design and facilitate a series of roundtable conversations, engaging stakeholders representing farmers, ranchers, nonprofit organizations, and conservation professionals within and outside of NRCS to share their insights on challenges and opportunities in integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion into technical assistance administration to historically underserved communities, specifically via the nine-step conservation planning process.
“The beauty of this project is centering the input of stakeholders representing historically underserved communities and making that input the focus of the guidebook,” said Candace Spencer, project lead and Mediator and Program Manager at Meridian. “We’re excited to share the final guidebook because it will truly be an equitable engagement tool that benefits historically underserved communities and helps NRCS live out its vision.”
Learn more about SWCS and their work at https://www.swcs.org/. Interested in Meridian Institute and their work? Learn more at https://www.merid.org.
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The KKAC Organization
The KKAC Organization has been assisting socially disadvantaged youth and farmers since 2015. Their objectives focus on mentorship and scholarships for students interested in agricultural fields and building leaders in agriculture. They also partner with local farmers, community leaders, and government agencies to build agricultural sustainability, specifically with socially disadvantaged producers. Retaining land ownership and preventing the loss of minority owned family farms landowners is a priority of KKAC. Through technical assistance and education, they assist landowners, enabling them to achieve the best use for their land to produce agricultural, forestry, and/or environmental products best suited for their land, with sustainability in mind.
In 2022, the KKAC Organization was awarded $710,000 to work across multiple states (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, and North Carolina) to increase the awareness and utilization of NRCS programs, specifically emphasizing the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) and the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) Seasonal High Tunnel Initiative. The ultimate goal is to expand participation by socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers to these NRCS programs.
The momentum of KKAC in this project is impressive! As of Fall 2023, the project had hosted 26 meetings reaching an estimated 399 individuals. As a result, 24 ACEP applications and 34 EQIP (High Tunnel) applications have been submitted. Many more outreach events are scheduled and KKAC is expanding its reach to include other partnering organizations to ensure that they are getting the information to the people in need.
In July, NRCS Chief Terry Cosby, was honored to be the keynote presenter at the KKAC Annual Organization Meeting. He expressed his support for their continued success and partnership with NRCS.
To learn more about KKAC, visit their website at https://www.kkac.org/
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Tonya Smith - Sustainable Agriculture Education in Kentucky
Several of NRCS’s FY22 Racial Equity and Justice Cooperative Agreements were awarded to individuals with a compelling vision for conservation outreach in their communities. One of these was Tonya Smith, whose project “Permaculture and Soil Education Outreach” received $96,000 to provide sustainable agriculture education to new farmers and middle school students in Kentucky. Tonya views the agreement as a significant opportunity for farmers to learn about how NRCS’s conservation programs can also be an economic benefit for their operations, and to provide a platform for farmers to be heard, identify needed resources, and become involved in new programs for both rural and urban producers.
As Tonya put it this summer:
One year has passed since being awarded the Racial Equity and Justice Conservation Cooperative Agreement, and it has allowed me to reach over a hundred farmers in Kentucky. In addition, it has expanded to me receiving calls from farmers in Tennessee and Colorado. What I assessed from the beginning is farmers did not need someone to offer a vast project that requires heavy machinery, three farms, and an expensive pilot program that would take two years to complete to embark on the benefits; they needed someone to meet them where they are, listen and provide informative feedback for growth. For this reason, there have been four workshops which included a concurrent conference session for urban and small farmers, surveying if farmers have farm parcel numbers, education in NRCS conservation and what questions to ask, a webinar about resource opportunities, and last year, implementing farmers attending two out-of-state events that were focused on USDA and NRCS programs, policies, and resources. I went from receiving 0 phone calls when I started this journey to six calls a day from farmers seeking information, or an email asking who to contact about an NRCS farm visit or programs offered.
The positive energy from the Racial Equity and Justice Conservation Cooperative Agreement has motivated me to understand conservation from a broader perspective and respect the practices. This opportunity has also led me to work on implementing mentoring and cohort programs that educate historically underserved producers and students on the benefits of long-term agriculture sustainability and conservation planning. Importantly, this agreement helps to provide equity and technical support by facilitating relationships between farmers and NRCS.
On September 20, USDA announced the 139 FY23 Equity in Conservation Outreach Cooperative Agreement selectees. Below, we introduce just a few of the partners we will be working with over the next 1-3 years to expand conservation outreach.
Trevecca Nazarene University in Tennessee was selected to receive $306,449 for its 3-year "Trevecca Urban Farm Conservation Project", expanding its "TreeCycle" youth conservation job program to a year-round opportunity and demonstrating NRCS best practices from the Climate Smart Agriculture and Forestry Mitigation Activities list.
In New York, the YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County was awarded $291,407 for a two-year project, "Growing the Next Generation of Conservationists", whose purpose is to introduce high school students in New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley region to educational opportunities that create pathways to careers in natural resource conservation and sustainable agriculture.
The Fe-Ma-Le Foundation in Texas was awarded $248,803 for a 1-year project that seeks to "open doors to education and training modules for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) and beginning farmers who are interested in creating healthier soils." The project will emphasize on-farm demonstrations using biochar and compost as soil amendments.
The Northern Arapaho Tribe in Wyoming was awarded $692,407 to facilitate the development of an Office of Agricultural and Natural Resources (OANR) to develop and implement a management plan that: develops agriculture on the reservation; is economically viable and sustainable; preserves natural resources and traditional ways; encourages new farmers and ranchers.
Consultation with Tribal Nations is an essential part of NRCS’s effort to better meet our federal tribal trust responsibilities and be more responsive to our tribal partners. As a result of guidance received by NRCS Chief Terry Cosby from tribal leaders at the 2023 National Tribal Consultation, NRCS recently added three conservation practices to our list of Climate Smart Agriculture and Forestry core practices. For 2024, Prescribed Burning, Brush Management. and Restoration of Rare and Declining Communities (through floodplain hydrology and connectivity improvement) will be recognized for their climate change mitigation impacts, and therefore eligible for NRCS Inflation Reduction Act conservation funding.
Did you know that NRCS has a Toolkit that can be used by partners to communicate about additional NRCS funding available via Inflation Act Reduction funding? If your partners are interested in applying for NRCS's flagship conservation programs (Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Conservation Stewardship Program, and/or the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program), we strongly encourage you to share this important information.
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