Malheur County is the second largest county in the state and has an area of 9,874 square miles or 6.3 million acres. Seventy-two percent of the county is in public ownership. Privately owned land includes 1, 074,900 acres of rangelands and 396,000 acres of irrigated crop and hay. The NRCS office is located in Ontario. The NRCS staff provides technical assistance and administers NRCS financial assistance conservation programs. NRCS is currently conducting an inventory for the North Malheur Soil Survey and is working cooperatively with the BLM on the South Malheur Soil Survey and Vegetation Assessment.

Current Financial Assistance Opportunities for Farmers, Ranchers and Forest Owners in Malheur County

The following funding opportunities are available to local farmers, ranchers, private forestland owners and tribes. Click the project names below for more information:

• Statewide EQIP funding
• Local EQIP funding
• Vale Oregon Irrigation District WaterSMART
• Conservation Stewardship Program (scroll to bottom)

Additional Funding Opportunities...

In addition to the local projects above, producers may also apply for statewide programs such as the Regional Conservation Partnership Program and conservation easement programs. Visit with your local District Conservationist for more information on these and other programs, or visit the NRCS Programs webpage.

Local Work Group Meetings

Every year, NRCS hosts a Local Work Group meeting where farmers, landowners, conservation partners and other members of the community discuss the natural resource needs for the county. Based on feedback from those meetings, NRCS updates the county's Long Range Plan and develops new Conservation Implementation Strategies to address those resource concerns. You may contact us anytime to express concerns or comments about conservation needs in the county, and we encourage you to attend the next Local Work Group meeting in your county. For more information about Local Work Group meetings, contact your local NRCS office.