Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Patrick Bittner, a farmer in Evansville Indiana, plants corn directly into his cover crops on May 13, 2021.

Indiana

We help Indiana's farmers and non-industrial forest landowners conserve the nation’s soil, water, air and other natural resources. All programs are voluntary and offer science-based solutions that benefit both the landowner and the environment.

With the mission of “Helping People Help the Land,” the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Indiana provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers and non-industrial forest managers to implement conservation practices to address natural resource concerns on their land related to soil health, water and air quality, and wildlife habitat as well as implement climate-smart agriculture practices. With our help, producers are better able to conserve, maintain or improve their natural resources. As a result of our technical and financial assistance, land managers and communities take a comprehensive approach to the use and protection of natural resources in rural, suburban, urban, and developing areas.

Indiana NRCS has personnel in USDA Service Centers who work with local conservation districts and other partners to serve farmers and landowners throughout the state.

Indiana State Office

  • 6013 Lakeside Blvd
    Indianapolis, IN 46278-1989

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.

Indiana NRCS Assistance

Indiana Technical Resources and Land Uses
Indiana Special Initiatives
Indiana Producer Success Stories
Ask the Indiana NRCS Expert
Indiana NRCS Publications

State Programs and Initiatives

NRCS offers voluntary programs to eligible landowners and agricultural producers to provide financial and technical assistance to help manage natural resources in a sustainable manner.

Through these programs the agency approves contracts to provide financial assistance to help plan and implement conservation practices that address natural resource concerns or opportunities to help save energy, address concerns related to soil health, water and air quality, wildlife habitat, and implement climate-smart agriculture practices on agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest land.

Troy Manges, Indiana NRCS district conservationist in Marshall County, inspects the restoration map of John Bellman’s Wetland Reserve Easement during a tour June 14, 2022.

State Payment Schedule

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

Sharrona Moore, the found of Lawrence Community Gardens, harvests collard greens in the garden's high tunnel on Feb. 2, 2021. The high tunnel was funded in part through the Natural Resources Conservation Services' Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), which Moore signed up for in 2018. The EQIP funding will also be used to plant a hedgerow at the garden located in Lawrence, Indiana. (Indiana NRCS photo by Brandon O'Connor)

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.

People talking a field

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.