U.S. Department of Agriculture Structure and Programs Roberta Parry EPA Office of Water May 19, 2011

USDA Organization Chart

USDA 2011 Budget

USDA and Conservation Voluntary Financial and technical assistance ~ $5 billion a year Working lands or land retirement Cross-Compliance for Commodity Programs Conservation Compliance on Highly Erodible Land Swampbuster/Sodbuster

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Organization National Headquarters National Policy State Offices State Conservationist State Technical Committees provide information, analysis, and recommendations on implementation, priorities and criteria for natural resources conservation Request membership through the State Conservationist -- interest and relevant credentials District Conservationists (county-level) Local Working Groups recommendations on local natural resource priorities and criteria for conservation activities

USDA Conservation Programs Working Lands - NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) Cost-share up to 75% for conservation practices 1-10 year contracts Structural and management practices $1 billion annually By law, 60% must be used for livestock production Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) Stimulate development and adoption of innovation conservation approaches, not research Annual competitive grants at national and state levels Eligibility: government, NGOs, individuals 50% matching requirement (25% can be in-kind) ~$25 million in FY 2011

USDA Conservation Programs Working Lands - NRCS Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) Payments for Management and maintenance of existing conservation systems. Adding additional conservation practices. Eligibility, ranking, payment based on addressing state priority resource concerns soil quality, soil erosion, water quality, water quantity, air quality, plant resources, and animal resources, energy Funding: ~ $1 billion/year Acreage: 12.8 million acres/year 5-year contracts, potentially renewable Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI) special local and regional projects with farmers, ranchers, NGOs, states, tribes, etc. ~$100 million/yr, 6% of EQIP, CSP, and WHIP Example: Mississippi River Basin Initiative

NRCS Conservation Practice Standards ~170 national standards Basis of EQIP funding and technical assistance. NRCS state offices develop state versions Can be more restrictive, specific Key Nutrient Practices 590 – Nutrient Management 391 – Riparian forest buffer 633 – Waste Utilization 634 – Waste Transfer 340 - Cover Crops 592 – Feed Management 393 – Filter Strip 355 – Well Water Testing

USDA Land Retirement Programs Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) NRCS permanent or 30 year easements ~150,000 acres/year Raised cap to 3.041 million acres (from 2.275 m acres) Farm Services Agency (FSA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Plant long-term resource-conserving covers to improve water quality, control soil erosion, and enhance wildlife habitat. 10 to 15 year contracts 32 million acre cap (down from 39.2 m acres) General sign-up = bids based on national environmental index Continuous sign-ups for “highly desirable environmental practices”: filter strips, grassed waterways, riparian buffers, public wellhead areas Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) Federal partnership with states, NGOs

Farm Services Agency (FSA) Organization Farm commodity, credit, conservation, disaster, loan, and price support programs HQ - Conservation CRP regulations Environmental Benefits Index CRP sign-up decisions State Offices State Committees, appointed by USDA County Offices Elected farmer county committees administer programs, provide policy guidance and determine who meets eligibility requirements for programs

National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Formula funding -- state land grant universities, research stations. Competitive research grants, includes Water Program. Priorities: global food security and hunger, climate change sustainable energy, childhood obesity, food safety FY 2012 proposed budget: $1.2 billion research and education - $701 million extension activities - $467 million Cooperative Extension System nationwide, non-credit educational network state offices at land grant universities, local or regional offices federal, state, and local funding eXtension website http://www.extension.org/

Other USDA Agencies Agriculture Research Service USDA in-house research arm, 100 research locations 1,200 research projects within 22 National Programs ~$1 billion a year National Agricultural Statistics Service Census of Agriculture Economic Research Service Rural Development Water/waste disposal loans, loan guarantees, and grants (<10,000 pop.)

USDA’s Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) Goals Quantify environmental effects of conservation practices/programs at the watershed scale New Vision: Integrate science into management of agricultural watersheds National Components Cropland: water quality/quantity, soil quality modeling Grazing Lands Wildlife Habitat Wetlands – ecosystem services Watersheds Synthesis of CSREES (now NIFA) watershed research Quantify effects of conservation practices at the watershed scale. Validate models and quantify uncertainties. Tools to optimize selection and placement of practices in a watershed. Some projects have socio-economic and outreach components. The purpose of the national assessment is to provide an accounting of the environmental benefits obtained from USDA conservation program expenditures for national reporting. Estimates are designed to be as scientifically credible as possible, given the current state of analytical technology and scientific knowledge. New insights and knowledge obtained in the watershed assessment studies and other scientific studies will be integrated into the national assessment as they become available, allowing us to revise initial estimates over time. The NRCS and FSA accounting systems for practices implemented will be used as a basis for the national estimates. Thus, program expenditures for a given year can be juxtaposed against the various benefits measures associated with the practices. Analytical approaches are designed to produce estimates for national reporting. There may also be some regional-level reporting. CEAP is not designed to provide state or sub-state estimates. All estimates of benefits will be reported in physical terms. It is currently beyond the scope of the project to report benefits in economic terms for national-level reporting. Note, however, that the Watershed Assessment Studies has an economic component that will attempt to assess benefits in economic terms for some watersheds.

CEAP Literature Reviews Bibliography—7 volumes Environmental Effects Barriers and Incentives Environmental Credit Trading Reviews and the State of the Art and Research Needs. Grazing Lands Wetlands in Agricultural Landscapes Effects of Agricultural Conservation Practices on Fish and Wildlife Dynamic Bibliography Web-based search engine http://www.nal.usda.gov/wqic/Bibliographies/ceap-scholarly.shtml Literature Reviews Cropland, fish and wildlife Coming soon: wetlands, grazing

Farm Bill §1619 Any USDA employee/cooperator shall not disclose information provided by an agricultural producer or land owner about the land, farm operation, or conservation practices  GIS information Exceptions technical/financial assistance w/ consent disease or pest threat aggregate information payment information

Contact Information Roberta Parry EPA – Office of Water Senior Agriculture Advisor (202) 564-0508 parry.roberta@epa.gov