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Livestock are essential functioning components of the natural resource ecosystem. They also are key to efficient and profitable agricultural production. NRCS helps livestock producers keep their livestock protected, healthy, and productive. Below are ways that NRCS can assist livestock producers.
NRCS can provide producers with technical assistance and resources to reduce the potential for transmission and risk of infestation and spread associated with New World Screwworm (NWS) while supporting the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s regulatory and operational response.
Freshwater harmful algal blooms can produce toxins that are harmful to humans, livestock, working animals, and pets. NRCS has several conservation practices that may be useful in protecting animals and people by restricting access to contaminated water or providing alternate water sources.
Larry O’Hern owns a large cattle operation in Central Illinois. He’s a Midwest cattleman and a successful businessman, managing all aspects of the operation.
Additional Conservation at Work videos and conservation practice standards are available. If you’re interested in assistance with these practices, contact your local NRCS office. You can also explore further with the Conservation Concerns Tool on farmers.gov.
Download the national conservation practice standard document and supporting documents for the following livestock-related practices:
USDA Animal Waste Management Version 2.4.1 - A planning/design tool for waste storage structures.
Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative - NRCS’s Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) was developed as a coordinated effort to identify priority issues, find solutions, and effect change on private grazing land, enhancing existing conservation programs.
Livestock 101: Livestock Economics and Markets
Session covers livestock sectors at a glance, markets, and general statistics and information.
Session covers nutrition and body condition, reproduction, health and biosecurity, animal and waste facilities, management and handing practices.
Covers nutrition and body condition, reproduction, health and biosecurity, animal and waste facilities, management and handling practices.
Covers nutrition and body condition, reproduction, health and biosecurity, animal and waste facilities, management and handling practices.
Session covers nutrition and body condition, reproduction, health and biosecurity, animal and waste facilities, management and handling practices.
Session covers nutrition and body condition, reproduction, health and biosecurity, animal and waste facilities, management and handling practices.
Livestock 101: Sheep and Goats
Covers nutrition and body condition, reproduction, health and biosecurity, animal and waste facilities, management and handling practices.
Session covers nutrition and body condition, reproduction, health and biosecurity, animal and waste facilities, management and handling practices.
Livestock 101: What Every Conservation Professional Needs to Know About Livestock Production
Livestock production fundamentals is a series of 8 webinars focused on providing livestock information to NRCS staff, partners, and technical service providers.
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:
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:
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.
