The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is now accepting applications from producers interested in participating in the Cropland Cover for Soil Health and Wildlife Project. This partnership project provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers who adopt multi-species cover crop mixtures for improving soil health and wildlife habitat.
Funded by the NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), Cropland Cover for Soil Health and Wildlife is a locally led USDA partnership program that incorporates wildlife friendly cover crops on cropland. Currently, producers in Hayes, Frontier, Hitchcock, Red Willow, Furnas, Harlan, Franklin, Gosper, Lincoln, Keith, Perkins, Chase and Dundy counties are eligible to receive financial assistance under the Cropland Cover for Soil Health and Wildlife Project.
“This RCPP project intends to help both producers and wildlife cope with ever-changing conditions across a portion of the state where groundwater supplies are considered to be over or fully appropriated” said Robert Lawson, NRCS State Conservationist for Nebraska. “Through participating in this project, we expect producers will recognize the economic and environmental benefits of cover crops and that they will continue these practices into the future, resulting in beneficial outcomes in the form of cleaner air, water, and more abundant wildlife.”
NRCS will utilize the ACT NOW funding process for fiscal year 2025. Applications for RCPP Cropland Cover for Soil Health and Wildlife will be accepted year-round, but by following the ACT NOW funding process, applications can be preapproved for funding as soon as NRCS staff completes the application ranking and review. This will facilitate a quicker turnaround to enter a contract for participants.
The final date to apply for fiscal year 2025 funding is Friday, April 25, 2025. Applications received prior to the deadline will be planned, assessed, ranked, and submitted in the order received. These applications will be preapproved based on fund availability, and if a ranking score above the threshold level has been met. The threshold score for this batching period will be 30 points. Applications received after the deadline may be batched and considered in the next batching period.
“The ACT NOW funding process will enable interested and qualified applicants with high-ranking scores to begin implementing the needed conservation practices sooner and reduce the wait time typically associated with conservation programs,” Lawson said.
