Conservation

Issue Overview

Family farmers and ranchers are the best environmental stewards when given the necessary access to both technical and financial assistance. Voluntary, incentive-based conservation programs help farmers make their land more productive while addressing climate change and natural resource concerns. 

These programs can help our farmers by rewarding them for achieving conservation benefits, thus diversifying and stabilizing farm income. Family farmers and ranchers care deeply about the overall well-being of the environment so that they can pass on resilient farmland for generations to come.

The federal government can continue to empower conservation practices on family farms and ranches by: 

• Maintaining strong funding for voluntary, incentive-based farm bill conservation programs, including the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), and others.
• USDA providing prompt and proficient technical assistance to help family farmers and ranchers adopt and maintain conservation practices.
• Continued support for programs and practices that foster resiliency to a changing climate and that build soil health 

Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance

Learn more about conservation policy initiatives from the Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance (FACA), a coalition of which NFU is a proud founding member: