More Funding Available for Farmers Through USDA’s Regenerative Pilot Program

The USDA is expanding its Regenerative Pilot Program with $1 billion to help producers strengthen their conservation and nutrient management practices.

Richard Fordyce, Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation, says the funding will be available starting in 2027.

“We’re working to improve soil health across all kinds of agriculture systems,” he says. “Whether that would be grazing for livestock, conventional commodity crops, specialty crops, or orchards, we can focus on a whole-farm conservation approach.”

He tells Brownfield Ag News that the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has made several improvements to the initiative.

“We want to support locally led conservation efforts,” he says. “If a state wants to prioritize more dollars of their allocation in the Regenerative Pilot Program, we will allow them to do some more local prioritization on what those practices will look like.”

Fordyce says the streamlined application process for EQUIP and CSP will help farmers throughout the enrollment process. Producers can apply now through their local NRCS office.

EDITOR’S TAKE:

USDA will oversee the funding, but state conservation organizations will make final decisions on which applications to approve and how to allocate the money. Once again, whether we call such programs soil conservation, sustainability practices or regenerative agriculture, the goal is much the same – help farmers and ranchers improve soil health and water quality. Such efforts will help improve the environment and stimulate the local economy at the same time. Be sure to maintain your truck inventory on AgTruckTrader.com®.