Fiscal Year 2025 is underway, and we are already accepting applications until November 1st for our first batching date for our cornerstone programs (EQIP, CSP, ACEP and RCPP.) Through ActNow, and the increased funding still available from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), we once again have more funding available more quickly than ever before to assist Oklahoma agriculture/forestry producers in their conservation efforts.  We continue to staff up and coupled with our adjustment of team boundaries and quality assurance reviews in the field, we are working to improve staff development and customer experience with our agency. As we move forward, we mourn the recent loss of long-time District Conservationist, Cord Colwell, but look forward enthusiastically to coming together at our first All-Personnel Training in over a decade, and to participating in even more local outreach events, field days, and opportunities to work with our partners in helping Oklahoman’s help the land.

Jeanne Jasper

State Conservationist

We’re inviting urban producers, innovative producers, and other stakeholders to virtually attend a public meeting of the Federal Advisory Committee for Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production on October 23, 2024, from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. Eastern.

Meeting details can be viewed in the Federal Register Notice. Written comments can be submitted via UrbanAgricultureFederalAdvisoryCommittee@usda.gov by November 6, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. The Committee will deliberate and vote on proposed recommendations and address public comments during the meeting. USDA will share the agenda between 24 to 48 hours prior to the meeting on the Committee’s webpage.

The Committee is managed by the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production and was established through the 2018 Farm Bill and is part of a broad USDA investment in urban agriculture.

Agricultural producers in Oklahoma interested in conservation practices to manage soil moisture, improve irrigation efficiency, or otherwise conserve ground and surface water resources are encouraged to apply for assistance through U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) conservation programs.

Oklahoma has one priority area for the WaterSMART Initiative (WSI), a joint effort between Bureau of Reclamation and USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to coordinate investments in the western US to help farmers conserve water and become more resilient to drought impacts.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is announcing Friday, November 1, 2024, as the first batching date for applications submitted for Fiscal Year 2025 funding through either the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) or Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

“NRCS-Oklahoma is wasting no time in FY25 connecting landowners with our most popular conservation programs,” said State Conservationist Jeanne Jasper. “CSP, RCPP, ACEP and EQIP are cornerstone programs for NRCS, and it’s important that we provide landowners with financial and technical assistance.”

NRCS uses batching dates for CSP, RCPP, ACEP and EQIP as a tool to review, approve and fund applications.  NRCS accepts applications on a continuous basis, and applications received after a batching date will automatically be considered during future funding cycles. This and future batching dates will include conventional funding and/or funding through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to include variances of the programs referenced above.  An example being applications for EQIP, EQIP IRA, or EQIP Conservation Incentive Contracts (CIC).