USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Accepting 2022 Applications for Conservation Planning Assistance in One Arkansas RCPP Project

LITTLE ROCK, Jan. 21, 2022 – Farmers and landowners in the East Arkansas Delta Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) project in Arkansas can apply to receive conservation planning assistance in fiscal year 2022.

Technical assistance is available for agriculture producers who want to work with NRCS and the East Arkansas Enterprise Community (EAEC) to develop a voluntary conservation plan. These are free plans that identify potential natural resource problems, evaluate alternatives, and recommend solutions that could make use of the land more effective and sustainable.

This planning effort is being conducted in advance of two years of financial assistance to be made available in the project area in 2023 and 2024. The anticipated financial assistance may help eligible participants offset a portion of the cost of implementing components of the conservation plans. Producers who request plans through this sign up and are treating project resource concerns may receive priority consideration for funding in future years.

Farmers and landowners in Lee, St. Francis, Monroe and Phillips counties who submit applications to their local NRCS office by April 29, 2022 will receive priority planning assistance.

“RCPP is a unique program that leverages non-federal investments brought by conservation partners to accelerate conservation in selected project areas,” said Arkansas NRCS State Conservationist Mike Sullivan. “This approach helps us maximize use of our collective resources to address locally identified concerns.”

The East Arkansas Delta RCPP project will implement innovative, effective and compelling solutions for the primary resource concerns related to land improvement/management/restoration of row crop and alternative crop producers and landowners in Lee, St. Francis, Monroe and Phillips counties. The objectives are to provide technical and financial assistance to all eligible producers and landowners, including socially disadvantaged producers and landowners in four select StrikeForce counties to improve their resource management and cropping systems and to help producers and landowners to identify the conservation activities they need to solve their conservation problems and install appropriate innovative conservation practices to decrease water quality degradation; improve habitat for fish, wildlife, and invertebrates; and reduce excess/insufficient water/drought.

All USDA Service Centers are open for business, including those that restrict in-person visits or require appointments. All Service Center visitors wishing to conduct business with NRCS or any other Service Center agency should call ahead and schedule an appointment.

Online services are available to customers with an eAuth account, which provides access to the farmers.gov portal where producers can view USDA farm loan information and payments and view and track certain USDA program applications and payments. Customers who do not already have an eAuth account can enroll at farmers.gov/sign-in. Online NRCS services are available to customers through the Conservation Client Gateway link which can be found at www.nrcs.usda.gov. Customers can track payments, report completed practices, request conservation assistance and electronically sign documents.

RCPP promotes coordination of NRCS conservation activities with partners that offer value-added contributions to expand our collective ability to address on-farm, watershed, and regional natural resource concerns. Through RCPP, NRCS seeks to co-invest with partners to implement projects that demonstrate innovative solutions to conservation challenges and provide measurable improvements and outcomes tied to the resource concerns they seek to address.