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Arkansas

Welcome to the new Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Arkansas website! Tabs at the top of the page link to general NRCS information. For Arkansas specific information, continue scrolling down the page.

NRCS Arkansas is committed to "Helping People Help the Land" by assisting producers in conserving our valuable natural resources. We provide services to all private landowners who are interested in restoring and enhancing our sprawling landscape through a unique partnership with landowners, conservation districts, state and local governments, and rural and urban citizens. Arkansas is blessed with an abundance of natural resources and a proud agricultural history and heritage. NRCS Arkansas is led by state conservationist Mike Sullivan.


 

Arkansas State Office

  • 700 W Capitol Ave Ste 3416
    Little Rock, AR 72201-3215

Find Your Local Service Center

USDA Service Centers are locations where you can connect with Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, or Rural Development employees for your business needs. Enter your state and county below to find your local service center and agency offices. If this locator does not work in your browser, please visit offices.usda.gov.

Helpful Links

NRCS Arkansas Careers
NRCS Arkansas Technical Resources
NRCS Arkansas Newsroom

State Programs and Initiatives

NRCS offers financial and technical assistance through conservation practices, activities and enhancements to help agricultural producers make and maintain improvements on their land. Learn more about the programs and initiatives offered in Arkansas.

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State Payment Schedule

NRCS provides financial assistance for selected conservation practices. The availability and amount of financial assistance can vary between states.

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Civil Rights Committee

The National Civil Rights Advisory Committee to the Chief (NCRACC) is designed to provide management officials and employees with counsel and advice to enhance and ensure compliance with their equal employment opportunity and program delivery responsibilities.

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State Technical Committee

State Technical Committees serve in an advisory capacity to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and other agencies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on the implementation of the natural resources conservation provisions of Farm Bill legislation.

How to Get Assistance

Do you farm or ranch and want to make improvements to the land that you own or lease?

Natural Resources Conservation Service offers technical and financial assistance to help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.

how to get started

To get started with NRCS, we recommend you stop by your local NRCS field office. We’ll discuss your vision for your land.

NRCS provides landowners with free technical assistance, or advice, for their land. Common technical assistance includes: resource assessment, practice design and resource monitoring. Your conservation planner will help you determine if financial assistance is right for you.

We’ll walk you through the application process. To get started on applying for financial assistance, we’ll work with you:

  • To fill out an AD 1026, which ensures a conservation plan is in place before lands with highly erodible soils are farmed. It also ensures that identified wetland areas are protected.
  • To meet other eligibility certifications.

Once complete, we’ll work with you on the application, or CPA 1200.

Applications for most programs are accepted on a continuous basis, but they’re considered for funding in different ranking periods. Be sure to ask your local NRCS district conservationist about the deadline for the ranking period to ensure you turn in your application in time.

As part of the application process, we’ll check to see if you are eligible. To do this, you’ll need to bring:

  • An official tax ID (Social Security number or an employer ID)
  • A property deed or lease agreement to show you have control of the property; and
  • A farm number.

If you don’t have a farm number, you can get one from USDA’s Farm Service Agency. Typically, the local FSA office is located in the same building as the local NRCS office. You only need a farm number if you’re interested in financial assistance.

NRCS will take a look at the applications and rank them according to local resource concerns, the amount of conservation benefits the work will provide and the needs of applicants. View Application Ranking Dates by State.

If you’re selected, you can choose whether to sign the contract for the work to be done.

Once you sign the contract, you’ll be provided standards and specifications for completing the practice or practices, and then you will have a specified amount of time to implement. Once the work is implemented and inspected, you’ll be paid the rate of compensation for the work if it meets NRCS standards and specifications.