Government Agencies
and
Programs
Chapter 20
USDA Agencies

USDA was established in 1862

To provide assistance for farmers:
• Soil and water management
• Other facets of agriculture

Many work through state or local groups

Was reorganized and streamlined in 1994
• Some agencies eliminated or merged
Agricultural Research Service (ARS)

Main research arm of USDA

Established in 1953
• Basic and applied research in agriculture

Participated in the development of the
Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE)

Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation

Publish the magazine Agriculture Research
• Reports their current projects
Cooperative State Research, Education,
and Extension Service


(CSREES) Replaces old Cooperative Extension
Service
Merges extension and research at Agricultural
Experiment Stations
• Located at land-grant universities
• Jointly funded by state and federal dollars

Personnel funded by CSREES may have:
•
•
•
•
Extension appointments
Research assignments
Teaching positions at the college
Combination of the three
Consolidated Farm Service Agency

(CFSA)

Created by merging of ASCS and FmHA

Administers a number of funding programs and
two major soil conservation programs

Many activities are administered at state and
local levels
• Committees of local growers in Soil and Water
Conservation Districts (SWCD)
• Conservation programs utilize NRCS tech expertise
Natural Resources Conservation Service



(NRCS)
Replaces older Soil Conservation Service
established in 1935 by Congress
Provides variety of assistance
• Technical support to CFSA programs
• Aid CFSA in establishing conservation policy
• Conduct soil surveys jointly with Agriculture
Experiment Stations
• Administer non-CFSA conservation programs
• Tech assistance in resource management issues such
as fish and wildlife habitat, pasture, and range
• Conduct National Resource Inventory every five
years – status and trends of nation’s soil and water
Soil and Water Conservation Districts

(SWCD) – Many USDA agencies operate
through SWCD local authority

President Roosevelt proposed model for
creating SWCD to state governors in 1937

Almost all states now have such districts

Follow county boundaries

Actual role varies state to state

Many have NRCS soil scientists assigned for
technical aid
USDA Conservation Programs
Environmental Quality Incentives
Program (EQIP)
 Conservation and Wetland Reserve
Programs
 Conservation Compliance Programs
 Clean Water Act


Additionally, State and Local Efforts
Environmental Quality Incentives Program
(EQIP)
 Authorized by the 1996 Farm Bill
 Combined several cost-sharing programs
 Administered by CFSA and NRCS
 Helps growers in soil and water
conservation efforts
 Provides money on a cost-share basis
 Growers enter into five- and ten-year
agreements with USDA

Conservation and Wetland Reserve
Programs

(CRP)

The Food Security Act of 1985 created CRP

Purchases ten-year conservation easements
from growers

Growers plant land to permanent cover

Targets highly erodable land

1996 Farm Bill shifted CRP priorities to
emphasize environmentally sensitive areas
Conservation Compliance Programs


Sometimes called “Sodbuster”
Requires growers to take certain
conservation measures to remain eligible
for federal price-support programs
• Example: growers submit and execute soil
erosion-control plans for highly erodable land

Wetlands may also be protected
• “Swampbuster” provisions of Farm Bill – deny
eligibility for other USDA programs to
growers who drain and farm certain wetlands
Clean Water Act
Section 404 protects many of the nation’s
wetlands by requiring permits to
discharge dredged or fill materials in
wetlands, streams, rivers, and other
waters of the US
 Most growers activities are exempt

• Except: conversion of wetlands to new use
filling for parking lots, other development

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers enforces
• EPA, NRCS, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife
involvement and input to Section 404 as well
State and Local Efforts

States and localities also have laws and
programs, such as
• Soil and Water Districts
• Agricultural Experiment Stations
• Extension Services
• Others

Many local and state laws involve controlling
land use, such as zoning laws.