RALEIGH, N.C., November 13, 2023- – Recently, members from the United States Department of Agriculture - Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) of North Carolina (N.C) attended the 38th annual Sustainable Agriculture Conference hosted by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA). The event was this held November 11th thru 13th at the Durham Convention Center.

The Sustainable Agriculture Conference featured three days of in-person programming. Sessions were taught by 100-150 speakers from across the Southeast—bringing attendees classroom and on-farm sessions beyond lectures and slideshows. The program is designed for farmers, land stewards, urban growers, educators and students, homesteaders, local food advocates, and other food system professionals from the Carolinas and across the Southeast. The event has been described as the largest and longest-running sustainable agriculture gathering in the Southeast.

The conference also featured more than 63 companies and organizations offering tools and resources as part of a trade show. The show provided an opportunity for members of NRCS to highlight the many opportunities available to farmers and other agricultural professionals. Opportunities like the new increase of minimum payments from $1,500 to $4,000 dollars under the Conservation Stewardship Program, how NRCS can help producers convert to organic, or one the many conservation practices that the agency offers to landowners. 

“These type of events always offers us, as employees, an amazing firsthand experience. You have the opportunity to share your knowledge, as well as learn new things from the audience. One of the most gratifying experiences is when you reunite with producers you met the previous year, and they tell you about their success thanks to that initial conversation at that event”, said Gabriela Velez-Rodriguez, Soil Conservationist for (USDA-NRCS) of North Carolina.

The conference also provided an opportunity for the agency to discuss the new ACT NOW authority. Under the authority states can immediately approve and obligate a ranked application in a designated ranking pool when an eligible application meets or exceeds a state determined minimum ranking score without waiting until the field office ranks all applications in the ranking pool. For FY 2024, N.C. NRCS will administer ACT NOW authority to process applications requesting financial assistance in the following ranking pools:

-Seasonal High Tunnel (Classic)
-Cropland (IRA)
-Forestry (IRA)
-Conservation Planning Activities (CPAs), Design and Implementation Activities (DIAs), and Conservation Evaluation and Monitoring Activities (CEMAs). (Classic)
-Long leaf Pine (Classic)

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.

TSP and QI include individuals, private businesses, American Indian tribes, nonprofit organizations, and public agencies. TSPs expand the number and availability of conservation technical experts capable of offering customized, one-on-one conservation advice to agricultural producers. The conference provided a great opportunity for the agency to highlight all the exciting opportunities to new and existing NRCS customers.

When not hosting the conference, the CFSA is busy helping Carolina farmers. The organization is farmer-driven, membership-based non-profit that helps people in North and South Carolina grow, eat, and enjoy local, organic food, flowers, and fibers. To date the CFSA boasts more than 2,500 members, provided technical assistance to over 800 farmers, been responsible for 35% of organic sales growth in the Carolinas since 2007, and has been a valued partner with NRCS. 

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