USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is in the process of updating the national conservation standard and is seeking public comment on proposed revisions to 49 conservation practice standards through a posting in the Federal Register.

The public comment period on the proposed revisions closes April 23.

Troy Daniell, Minnesota’s NRCS state conservationist, says there are more than 200 conservation practice standards and that updates were supposed to be made routinely every five years. Last fall, NRCS began the updating process and started with public comments on 13 conservation practice standards. Now with this batch, another 49 standards are up for review.

“The agency wants to know if standards are meeting producers’ needs of today,” Daniell says.

The 49 updated national conservation practice standards include:

Improvements to the 49 revised conservation practice standards include expanding and updating their scope to incorporate new technology and increase flexibility; enhancing water conservation practices such as irrigation; and addressing wildlife issues. Many updates include updating language and the inclusion and emphasis of the term “soil health.”

Standards of interest to Minnesota farmers include modifications that address compost facilities, crop rotation, irrigation, livestock shelters, prescribed burning, surface drainage, field ditches and water wells.

Submit your comments today

NRCS is encouraging agricultural producers, landowners, organizations, tribes and others that use its conservation practices to comment on the revised conservation practice standards. The service will use the public comments to further enhance its conservation practice standards.

NRCS sought the public’s input for 13 other conservation practice standards in October 2019. This followed the March 11, 2019, announcement that the agency was commencing review of the practice standards in the National Handbook of Conservation Practices.

Copies of the proposed revisions to the 49 conservation practice standards are available through regulations.gov by accessing docket number NRCS-2020-0001. The proposed revised standards can also be downloaded here.

When submitting comments, please include the volume, date and page number of this issue of the Federal Register.

Comments can be submitted using several methods:

Federal eRulemaking Portal. The docket for the proposed revisions is available here. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.

Mail. Bill Reck, National Environmental Engineer, Conservation Engineering Division, U.S. Department of Agriculture, NRCS, 1400 Independence Ave., South Building, Room 6136, Washington, D.C. 20250.

For more information on how NRCS is implementing the 2018 Farm Bill, visit NRCS’s Federal Register Notices webpage or farmers.gov/farmbill.