Dear Chairman Hoeven, Chairman Harris, Ranking Member Shaheen and Ranking Member Bishop:

The undersigned organizations request that you provide $1.2 billion for Conservation Operations within the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Fiscal Year 2026 (FY 2026). This funding is critical to the effective administration of USDA conservation programs and provides essential tools to help farmers, ranchers, and private landowners across the country voluntarily implement effective conservation practices.

Conservation Operations funding primarily supports Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA), which facilitates the administration of USDA conservation programs by supporting our conservation workforce, conservation planning, and the extension of specialized technical assistance to producers. Our country’s conservation delivery system and producers across the country depend on the availability of on-the-ground technical assistance to implement effective conservation practices. Conservation Operations funding also supports NRCS soil surveys, snow surveys, water supply forecasting, and plant materials centers. These provide important information and tools to help producers monitor and manage their land more effectively.

We also request that FY 2026 appropriations legislation maintains full authorized funding for farm bill conservation programs. Voluntary, incentive-based, and locally led USDA conservation programs enjoy bipartisan support in Congress and are utilized by producers of all kinds across the United States to adopt conservation practices on their operations that enhance water quality, increase resilience, and reduce harmful emissions. Demand for these programs, including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), exceeds available dollars by a wide margin. It is critical that FY 2026 appropriations legislation maintains full authorized funding to help more producers voluntarily implement conservation on their lands. 

As your subcommittee develops the FY 2026 appropriations bill, we urge you to provide $1.2 billion in discretionary funding for NRCS Conservation Operations and to reject any changes in mandatory spending for farm bill conservation programs. We appreciate your attention to our request and look forward to working with you to support conservation and our nation’s producers.

Sincerely,

National Association of Conservation Districts

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition