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August 2022
The Office of Farmland Preservation (OFP) is pleased to announce a new addition to our team this month. Paul D'Agnolo is joining us as the new Office of Farmland Preservation Specialist. You can read more about Paul on the Commission's staff page.
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Inflation Reduction Act
Passed by Congress last week and signed by President Biden on Tuesday, the Inflation Reduction Act makes significant investments in federal conservation programs. The following programs will all see increased funding:
- $8.45 billion for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
- $4.95 billion for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP)
- $3.25 billion for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)
- $1.4 billion for the Ag Conservation Easement Program (ACEP)
- $1 billion to boost USDA conservation technical assistance, NRCS would receive $300 million to quantify carbon sequestration and emissions on farmland
- $4 billion for western states to deal with drought
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Resources
NRCS’ Climate Change Adaptation Plan
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service has a new Climate Change Adaptation Plan that works to ensure its programs and services meet the demands of the changing agricultural landscape. It evaluates seven current vulnerabilities to NRCS’s mission, operation and infrastructure that may be affected by climate change and prioritizes key actions to address these vulnerabilities, such as:
- Increase climate literacy and staffing capacity to deliver assistance that is reflective of climate change
- Enhance science, research, and data for understanding, organizing, measuring, and tracking climate related impacts and outcomes
- Integrate climate information into current business procedures, assessments, and opportunities
- Ensure current and future applied conservation investments are reflective of climate change needs
- Assess and address disproportionate climate change impacts on vulnerable communities through intentional engagement, planning, and assistance
- Strengthen partnerships and collaboration to address climate change
Solar Futures Study
The Solar Futures Study explores solar energy’s role in transitioning to a carbon-free electric grid. Produced by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and released on September 8, 2021, the study finds that with aggressive cost reductions, supportive policies, and large-scale electrification, solar could account for as much as 40% of the nation’s electricity supply by 2035 and 45% by 2050.
Columbia Plateau Least-Conflict Solar Siting
Washington State has a directive to eliminate coal in the state’s resource mix
by 2025, and for the state’s electricity to be 100% carbon-free by the year
2045. One of the first milestones is to produce 80% of our electricity from
clean sources by 2030.
The Least-Conflict Solar Siting project poses the question: where can
large-scale solar be developed in the Columbia Plateau region while also
ensuring that important habitat, productive farmlands and rangelands,
and tribal treaty rights are protected?
To answer that question, Washington State University (WSU) Energy Program
is leading a voluntary, collaborative effort that brings stakeholders together to
identify areas in the Columbia Plateau region where the siting of utility-scale
solar is less likely to generate significant conflict. Learn more about the effort here.
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Funding Opportunities
Outreach and Education
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing in two outreach and education efforts for farmers and ranchers, including those who are new to farming or who have been historically underserved by USDA programs. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is investing $10 million for agriculture-oriented taxpayer education as well as $4.5 million in outreach for the Conservation Reserve Program’s Transition Incentives Program (CRP TIP), which helps with access to land for beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. Both efforts help advance equity and access to USDA programs and agriculture. Read the full press release here.
Conservation Innovation Grants
USDA will invest $15 million this year for the Conservation Innovation Grants Classic program. Through CIG, grantees work to address water quality, water quantity, air quality, soil health and wildlife habitat challenges, all while supporting agricultural production. This year’s funding priorities are climate-smart agriculture, addressing invasive species and conservation in urban agricultural systems. Applications are accepted now through Oct. 11. Find out more and how to apply.
Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative Cooperative Agreements
USDA will invest up to $12 million in partnerships that expand access to conservation technical assistance for livestock producers and increase the use of conservation practices on grazing lands. NRCS is accepting proposals through its Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) until Sept. 22, 2022. Find out more and how to apply.
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Events
Farmland Access Workshop Series/Talleres del acesso a terreno agrícola
Are you a farmer seeking long-term land tenure? Do you have questions about water rights or assessing a potential new property? Do you want to learn about financing options and creative land tenure models? Join Viva Farms and American Farmland Trust for a series of four workshops in September exploring farmland access strategies and considerations.
¿Es usted un agricultor que busca la tenencia de un terreno a largo plazo? ¿Tiene preguntas sobre los derechos de agua o sobre cómo evaluar una nueva propiedad? ¿Quiere aprender sobre opciones de financiamiento y modelos creativos de tenencia de tierra? Únase a Viva Farms y American Farmland Trust para una serie de talleres en septiembre que exploran estrategias y consideraciones del acceso a tierras agrícolas.
Cultivating Success: Growing Future Farmers
Interested in farming? Not sure how to begin? The Cultivating Success™ series of courses combines workshop and farmer-direct learning experiences to help foster the success of new and existing farms. Cultivating Success helps participants explore the unique advantages available to the small and mid-size farm.
The first course in the series, Whole Farm Planning takes place on Monday evenings, 6:00pm to 8:30pm, September 19 through December 5, 2022. Offered statewide, the course will be conducted online using the Zoom platform with in-person field trips available in some regions of Washington state. In addition, the course will be offered with Spanish language interpretation and facilitation.
Weekly presentations include local growers, organizations, and agriculture professionals with expertise in direct marketing, value-added processing, production planning, agronomy, livestock production, and more. Cultivating Success provides students with the tools necessary to create, develop, or expand a sustainable farm operation.
Cost for the twelve-week course is $200 per farm/family. Scholarships are available for Military Veterans and anyone for whom the course fee is a barrier. Visit cultivatingsuccesswa.org/courseregistration/p/whole-farm-planning to register online.
Sponsors include WSU Food Systems, WSU Extension, Washington State Dept. of Veterans Affairs, and US Dept. of Veterans Affairs.
For more information on the course, visit cultivatingsuccesswa.org/whole-farm-planning or contact Kate Smith (360) 395-2363, kate.smith@wsu.edu.
Short Course on Local Planning
The Short Course on Local Planning provided by the Washington State Department of Commerce offers an overview of land use planning laws in Washington, an introduction to comprehensive planning and plan implementation under the Growth Management Act (GMA), and a review of roles in planning and mandatory training on the Open Public Meetings Act for local government officials. All courses are online, free and open to the public.
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Updates from NRCS
Regional Conservation Partnership Program
USDA is awarding Washington $7.2 million for the following two locally led conservation projects through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).
Odessa Groundwater Replacement Program | Awarded $6,000,000 Grant County Conservation District and seven contributing partners plan to help agricultural producers replace groundwater irrigation systems with Columbia River surface water for 11,180 acres of high-value irrigated farmland that currently relies on the rapidly declining Odessa Subarea Aquifer. The partnership plans to work with up to 13 farms and ultimately leave over 33,000 acre-feet of water in the aquifer each year. Groundwater replacement will provide benefits to the local and regional economy, improving water quality and quantity for municipalities, strengthening the agricultural industry to be more climate resilient, and encouraging local job growth.
Whatcom County Conservation Easement Program | Awarded $1,175,325 The Whatcom County Conservation Easement Program’s (CEP) purpose is to permanently preserve farm and forest land to maintain economically viable natural resource industries in northwest Washington. Many of the working lands targeted by this project are zoned for rural development, placing increasing threats to our agricultural and forest industries. The project leverages existing farm and forest land preservation programs. The partnership plans to use part of the RCPP funding to engage limited resource producers as beneficiaries of buy-protect-sell easement transactions.
RCPP is a partner-driven program that leverages partner resources to advance innovative projects that address climate change, enhance water quality, and address other critical challenges on agricultural land.
Read the full press release here. You can see a complete list of 2022 RCPP projects here.
Annual Easement Monitoring
All NRCS funded easements require annual monitoring. For NRCS non-stewardship programs, which include the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program – Agricultural Land Easements (ACEP-ALE) and the Farm and Ranchlands Protection Program (FRPP), entities are responsible for completing annual monitoring reports and supplying them to NRCS within the current Federal fiscal year.
Entities with ACEP-ALE or FRPP easements must complete the NRCS annual monitoring worksheets and submit them to NRCS via email to Heather.Noel@usda.gov and cc Carlee.Elliott@usda.gov no later than September 1, 2022. The worksheet is available for download from the Washington NRCS ACEP-ALE webpage under “More Information.”
The September 1 deadline allows NRCS-WA to input all monitoring data into their management systems to effectively report on monitoring by the end of the Federal fiscal year (September 30) as required by policy. Reporting metrics are reviewed by NRCS National Headquarters to assist in determining state allocation for farmland preservation programs.
Failure to submit the annual monitoring worksheet by September 1 will impact an entity’s application screening for future program participation.
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Agriculture in the News
Farmland Protection
Farmland Markets
Federal
Carbon Sequestration
Markets
Harvest
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