USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service contracted with Iowa farmers and landowners to treat natural resources on more than 316,000 acres, obligating $59.8 million in financial assistance during fiscal year 2020 that ended Sept. 30.

NRCS also wrote 12,624 conservation plans that cover 889,071 acres during FY 2020. The conservation plans will help Iowa farmers reduce soil erosion, improve soil health and water quality, increase wildlife habitat, and treat other environmental issues.

Iowa NRCS assisted ag producers through several conservation programs and targeted initiatives, including the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).

“Like so many industries, implementing conservation practices and programs is challenging during a pandemic,” says Jon Hubbert, state conservationist for NRCS in Iowa. “With many of our offices open by appointment only or completely closed to the public, it’s been important for our staff to find other ways to communicate and work with farmers. I’m extremely proud of our staff, Iowa conservation partners, and Iowa’s agricultural producers for working together during this difficult time to get conservation on the land.”

Environmental Quality Incentives Program

Through EQIP, NRCS obligated $30.1 million to treat 126,696 acres through 1,022 contracts. EQIP is a voluntary program that promotes agricultural production and environmental quality. Farmers can choose from a conservation practice list developed at the county level to treat local resource concerns.

Top EQIP practices adopted. Some of the top conservation practices adopted by Iowans through EQIP include:

Top counties for EQIP. State leaders in EQIP contracts, funding and acres treated follow:

More EQIP highlights. Other statewide EQIP highlights include:

Conservation Stewardship Program

Iowa NRCS obligated about $17.4 million through new and renewed CSP contracts during the past year. In FY 2020, 395 Iowa farmers signed five-year CSP contracts to treat natural resource concerns on 187,981 acres. CSP helps farmers build on existing conservation efforts by customizing a plan to meet conservation goals and needs.

More than $1.7 million in CSP funding is contracted for Monarch Butterfly habitat through the “Improving Working Lands for Monarch Butterflies” project. Thirty-two Iowa landowners signed up for the project in 2020, providing 12,100 acres of habitat.

Overall, northeast Iowa landowners signed 51% of new and renewed CSP contracts in 2020:

Regional Conservation Partnership Program

In FY 2020, Iowa NRCS obligated $2.8 million through RCPP to treat natural resource concerns on 22,916 cropland acres. NRCS assisted producers through RCPP partnership agreements and 69 contracts.

RCPP promotes coordination between NRCS and its partners through agreements and program contracts. Currently, there are six RCPP projects in Iowa that focus on improving water quality and soil health, implementing monarch butterfly and other wildlife habitat, and creating sustainable grain supply chains.

Ag Conservation Easement Program

Seven landowners in six Iowa counties placed agricultural land into conservation easements through ACEP in 2020. The new easements cover 1,755 acres at a price to NRCS of about $10.5 million.

Through ACEP, NRCS helps landowners, land trusts and other entities protect, restore and enhance wetlands, grasslands and working farms through conservation easements. Overall, there are 1,664 conservation easements in Iowa covering about 190,000 acres.

NRCS also provided Iowa easement owners about $1.8 million for stewardship activities on existing easements.

For more detailed Iowa NRCS program results and information, visit Iowa at a Glance 2020.

Johnson is the state public affairs specialist for NRCS in Des Moines.