Dover, N.H., Sept.5, 2025 – Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in New Hampshire is announcing that the fiscal year (FY) 2026 sign-up deadline for the Environmental Conservation Stewardship Program (EQIP), the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and the Agricultural Management Assistance Program (AMA) is Oct. 10, 2025.

While applications are accepted on a continuous basis, NRCS utilizes application cutoff periods to assess and rank applications based on their potential conservation impact. 

All applications need to be received by Oct. 10, 2025, to be considered for this first round of funding for FY 2026. Applications received after this date will be held and considered for subsequent rounds, as funding permits.

Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)

As NRCS’ flagship program, EQIP provides technical and financial assistance to producers to address natural resource concerns by integrating conservation practices into existing working lands. This program provides financial and technical assistance to address natural resource concerns and to deliver environmental benefits, such as improved water and air quality, conserved ground and surface water, reduced soil erosion and sedimentation, and improved or created wildlife habitat and increased plant productivity and health. EQIP assistance is available on all types of agricultural and nonindustrial, private forestry operations.

Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)

The CSP is designed to help farmers take their conservation activities to the next level by offering technical and financial assistance to help agricultural and forest producers increase their level of private land stewardship. This program rewards existing land stewardship and offers participants opportunities to expand and build upon their existing conservation through recommending additional activities and enhancements. CSP also gives producers an opportunity to explore and adopt new technologies or management techniques.

Agricultural Management Program (AMA)

The AMA program helps agricultural producers manage certain financial risks through diversification, marketing, or natural resource conservation practices. The NRCS administers the conservation provisions of the program, while the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and Risk Management Agency (RMA) implements production diversification and marketing provisions.

How to Apply

Interested producers can submit applications at your local NRCS Service Center. All applications are competitive and are ranked based on national, state, and locally identified resource priorities, and by overall conservation benefits to the environment. Applications received after Oct. 10, 2025, will be automatically considered in the next batching period.

Future Program Signups 

NRCS New Hampshire anticipates a separate signup for Conservation Planning Activities (CPAs), Design and Implementation Activities (DIAs) and Conservation Evaluation and Monitoring Activities (CEMAs) in Jan. 2026. 

CPAs, DIAs, and CEMAs are EQIP financial assistance opportunities for participants to hire Technical Service Providers (TSP) or Qualified Individuals (QI) to provide conservation planning, practices designs or implementation instructions, and monitoring or evaluation of conservation measures applied to the land.

More Information

To learn more about NRCS programs, producers can contact their local USDA Service Center.  Producers can also apply for NRCS programs, manage conservation plans and contracts, and view and print conservation maps by logging into their farmers.gov account. If you don’t have an account, sign up today. 

For 90 years, NRCS has helped farmers, ranchers and forestland owners make investments in their operations and local communities to improve the quality of our air, water, soil, and wildlife habitat. NRCS uses the latest science and technology to help keep working lands working, boost agricultural economies, and increase the competitiveness of American agriculture. NRCS provides one-on-one, personalized advice and financial assistance and works with producers to help them reach their goals through voluntary, incentive-based conservation programs. For more information, visit nrcs.usda.gov.  

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