At a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on conservation programs this week, a panel of conservation leaders told senators that cutbacks in staffing as the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), would impact producer access to technical assistance necessary to ensure that farmers continue trying out practices that reduce soil erosion and prevent nutrient runoff.
“If we don’t have the technical assistance that is available to us now, I think these conservation programs are going to go by the wayside simply because the farmers and ranchers aren’t going to be utilizing them,” said Lynn Tjeerdsma, a former assistant deputy administrator for farm programs at USDA’s Farm Service Agency.
A witness for the Farm Bureau, said the NRCS employees he worked with on a conservation project are “very good at what they do,” but are only a few years from retirement. He said he doesn’t see many young people “standing up to replace them."
The witnesses called for partnerships with outside organizations to ensure farmers have access to technical assistance. Conservation districts and other organizations can help fill gaps left by staffing reductions and ensure landowners get the help and advice they need when enrolling in conservation programs, a process witnesses called complicated.
NRCS, which has struggled for years to stay fully staffed, stands to lose about 2,400 employees to deferred resignations, according to Agri-Pulse. The agency had a total of 11,709 full-time staff last October and at that time, aimed to reach 14,000 by 2026.
Gary Blair, the president of the National Association of Conservation Districts, said he is concerned by the loss of 2,400 employees and a potential return to fiscal year 2020 staffing levels, which NACD believes “were insufficient to meet producers’ needs.”
“If we don’t have the technical assistance that is available to us now, I think these conservation programs are going to go by the wayside simply because the farmers and ranchers aren’t going to be utilizing them,” Tjeerdsma said.