The Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) helps agricultural producers manage financial risk through diversification, marketing or natural resource conservation practices.
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Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) provides cost share assistance to agricultural producers to voluntarily address issues such as water quality, and erosion control by incorporating conservation into their farming operations. Producers may improve animal operations; plant trees for windbreaks or to improve water quality; and mitigate risk through production diversification or resource conservation practices, including soil erosion control, integrated pest management, or high tunnel houses.
AMA - 2024
Farmers can apply now for technical and financial assistance through the Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA)
The first application cutoff date for Fiscal Year 2024 is November 17, 2023.
Eligibility Screening deadline for Fiscal Year 2024 is January 22, 2024.
NRCS accepts applications year-round but makes funding selections at application cut-off deadlines.
Additional application cutoff dates are scheduled March 15, 2024 and May 17, 2024. Eligibility deadlines are April 19th and May 31st, respectively, pending funds availability.
Documents and Forms
Payment Limitations are $50,000 per individual or entity per Fiscal Year.
There are no advanced payments for Historically Underserved (HU) participants.
ACT NOW - New Initiative for FY 24
ACT Now funding process will allow applicants that meet the state minimum required ranking scores to avoid longer wait times typically associated with conservation programs, allowing them to enter into AMA contracts quickly. Eligible practices are High Tunnel and high tunnel related irrigation practices such as water wells and micro irrigation, as well as cover crops for high tunnels.
Applications eligible for the identified ACT NOW ranking pools will be accepted on a continuous sign-up basis beginning Nov. 3, 2023, through Dec. 15, 2023, at which time the ACT NOW sign-up period will close. Applications eligible through ACT NOW will be processed in the order received. Ranked applications with a minimum ranking score of 20 will be funded, depending on available funding.
For more information on NRCS programs, contact your local USDA Service Center. In Sussex County, call 302-856-3990, ext. 3; in Kent County, call 302-741-2600, ext. 3; and in New Castle County, call 302-832-3100, ext. 3.
Staff Contact: Justin Ford, State Program Specialist
Phone Number: (302) 362-0866
Email: Justin.Ford@usda.gov
Ready to get started?
Contact your local service center to start your application.
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.
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.