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Landowner GRANTS: NRCS-NY Conservation Programs Due January 15

USDA Announces January 15 National Batching Deadline for Major NRCS Conservation Programs

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) established a national Jan. 15, 2026, batching deadline for the first funding round of key conservation programs. This national batching date ensures producers have a clear, consistent timeline for participating in Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP). This includes NRCS’ new Regenerative Pilot Program, which provides targeted Farmer First assistance through EQIP and CSP.

“The NRCS team continues its commitment to New York producers — advancing conservation, strengthening service delivery, and keeping our promise to the men and women who feed and fuel our nation,” said NRCS New York State Conservationist Blake Glover.

NRCS programs are continuous sign-up programs, but due to the government shutdown, the agency is implementing an initial national batching period to ensure producers have access to funding and support.

Updated NRCS Program Timelines
•    All NRCS conservation programs remain continuous sign-up.
•    Farmers and ranchers have until Jan. 15, 2026, to apply for the first batching period.
•    National and State Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) will follow later in the year.
•    PL-566 and Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) opportunities remain open for sponsors based on available funding.

Programs with a January 15, 2026, batching period deadline include:
•    Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP)
•    Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
•    Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)
•    New NRCS Regenerative Pilot Program (EQIP & CSP)

This extends the original October 24 deadline for CSP, EQIP, GLRI, NWQI, WLFW, and AMA. For more information on ACEP, please contact Peter Gibbs at peter.gibbs@usda.gov.

For more information, please visit nrcs.usda.gov or contact your local USDA Service Center.

Agroforestry workshop, Jan 15, Ithaca NY, register by Nov 21

Beyond the Forest: Seeing the Farm for the Trees

Thurs Jan 15, 2026, 9:30-4pm

Clark Building rm 700

Hosted by the Cornell Small Farms Program and the Silvopasture and Agroforestry Program Work Teams

Agroforestry practices integrate trees in farm production, and if done well, can create numerous benefits to the climate, biodiversity, soil health, and a farmer’s bottom line. The five recognized agroforestry practices have ancient and global roots, and are just starting to be scaled and appreciated in our region, despite a lack of data to guide best practices. Agroforestry entrepreneurship in the Northeast is growing quickly, as is the demand for research and technical support.

While agroforestry serves as an umbrella for several different practices, all require multidisciplinary knowledge plus curiosity and experimentation. Your name has been suggested as someone with research interests that overlap with this field of inquiry. We hope you’ll join us at this event to learn about new developments and challenges, explore potential collaborations, and brainstorm a research agenda to advance innovation in these practices. Please invite your grad students to join us too!

At the summit you can expect to hear from trailblazing producers about their successes and challenges in scaling up and about Cornell’s history of agroforestry engagement. You’ll also hear from Mike Gold, a long-time faculty member at the University of Missouri’s Center for Agroforestry, about the research and extension they’ve been doing for nearly 3 decades and its positive impacts on rural resilience in Missouri.

We’ll enjoy a free hot lunch, and the afternoon will include time for producers, faculty, and service providers to discuss research, education and networking strategies for meeting the challenges and opportunities to scale agroforestry in the Northeast.

RSVP by Fri Nov 21!

5 steps for regenerative agriculture with respect to climate (targeting Hudson Valley NY)

These 5 steps were designed for small/medium farms (fruit, vegetable, grazing) in the Hudson Valley NY to build climate resilient farming.

Each step has a worksheet to help you think about it on your farm.

For more details, go here: https://regenerativefarmresilienceguide.org/

Step 1

Gather and summarize information about your operation including your assets under management and your farm goals using two simple tools to create a snapshot of your farm’s current business condition and revisit your farm and family goals.

Step 2

Learn more about the current and expected climate change effects in your region to identify the climate-related threats and opportunities specific to your farm operation.

Step 3

Select a complementary set of climate risk management strategies that draw on a diversity of farm resources to cultivate the specific and general climate resilience of your farm.

Step 4

Evaluate selected climate risk management strategies and associated practices to identify those that are a “best fit” for your farm operation.

Step 5

Make a climate resilience plan to implement a group of complementary “best fit” climate resilience practices, including a timeline, specific steps to implementation, and monitoring the performance of your new practices to climate risks.

 

 

Helping Small and Mid-sized farms that are underserved by Crop Insurance

On the Use of Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) by Specialty Crop Producers in NYS

The US Risk Management Agency (RMA), created Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) to meet the needs of small and mid-sized diverse farms who are underserved by crop insurance.

WFRP has several benefits for diversified specialty crop producers who engage in direct marketing as the insurance covers actual farm historic revenue rather than reimbursements based on wholesale prices of crops, subsidized premiums for diversified crops, and allows producers to cover most of a farm’s commodities (crops and livestock) in a single policy.

Despite these benefits, few fruit and vegetable farms in the Northeast have enrolled in the WFRP.

We discuss the role of the program, its current use nationally and in New York State, and compare premiums and payments between WFRP and a representative farm’s likely alternatives: a Federal Crop Insurance Program (FCIP) Actual Production History policy available for certain commodities in certain counties or a Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) policy available where FCIP is not. Finally, we discuss some ongoing challenges in the adoption of WFRP by specialty crop producers in New York State. 

To read the full report, check out this linked pdf kindly shared by: Elizabeth Higgins

Report written by Gregory Astill, Elizabeth Higgins, Sharon Raszap Skorbiansky, and Bradley Rickard