What's New Archive

University of Wisconsin is going to host the Farm Succession Coordinator Certification Training this fall here in North Carolina. It will be a 2.5 day training in Shelby, NC, on Nov 7th through 9th. It is the prerequisite training needed to take the Farm Succession Coordinator Certification test. This would be a good training for any land trust staff who help farmers work through succession issues with conservation easements. To register visit this website

The annual event, this year titled “Southern Forests: Ecosystem Services Frame the Future,” brings together the leaders of state forestry agencies from 13 southern states along with the primary federal and private partners with whom we work to conserve southern forests. SGSF provides leadership in sustaining the economic, environmental and social benefits of the South’s forests, which are numerous and varied. 

When: Jun 06, 2022 08:00 AM to Jun 09, 2022 11:30 AM
Where: Greenville, SC
Register: https://southernforests.org/news-events/events-meetings/sgsf-2022-annual-meeting

Secretary Sonny Purdue announced on Nov. 12, 2020, the signup periods for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and the CRP Grasslands in 2021. Signup for general CRP will be open from Jan. 4, 2021, to Feb. 12, 2021, and signup for CRP Grasslands runs from March 15, 2021 to April 23, 2021. Both programs are competitive and provide annual rental payments for land devoted to conservation purposes. There will be a free webinar on January 14 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. MST. Register in advance for this meeting After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.  For more information, email Jeff Tranel or call 719-251-0990 

EarthX.org

USDA announced today it is offering $75 million in funding for the eradication and control of feral swine through the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program (FSCP) in a joint effort with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). The 2018 Farm Bill included this new pilot program to help address the threat that feral swine pose to agriculture, ecosystems and human and animal health. Learn More »

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced today it is seeking public input on its existing national conservation practice standards as part of implementing the 2018 Farm Bill. NRCS offers 150-plus conservation practices to America’s farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to help them meet their business and natural resource needs on their working lands. NRCS is requesting public comments on how to improve conservation practice standards that support programs. The comment period ends April 25, 2019.  Learn More »

A small group of local landowners interested in restoring quail populations joined Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Quail Forever and the Boone County Natural Resources Conservation Service Thursday evening, May 5, at the  Harrison Federal Building for a meeting devoted to bringing back the northern bobwhite. Learn more here.

Women fill many roles in agriculture. They are farmers and farm workers, ranchers, agricultural researchers, educators and agri-business people. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), there are 22,228 women farmers in Arkansas. A local agriculture producer will be recognized in DeWitt as “Woman of the Year” in agriculture. Learn more here.

Quail restoration in Arkansas is progressing glacially, but the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is comfortable that it is on the right path...Arkansas lost most of its bobwhite habitat to modern agricultural practices, residential and commercial development, and a conditioned aversion to prescribed burning. Read more here.

OUACHITA NATIONAL FOREST, Ark. - There are more than five-thousand wild black bears in Arkansas, and biologists are working hard to keep that number steady. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission hopes to preserve the population one family of bears at a time. Watch the video and learn more here.

This year's event will be Wednesday, Jan. 31, at First National Bank Arena, 217 Olympic Drive, on the A-State campus. Producers from Arkansas and surrounding states are expected to attend. A number of speakers from agricultural agencies and private interests will gather to share their thoughts on the latest issues and trends in soil and water conservation. Learn more here.

Check out this article from the Mississippi State University Extension Service highlighting (with statistics) some of the challenges of reaching landowners with conservation efforts. 

The deadline for the FY2018 Wetlands Reserve Easements program with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service is quickly approaching. The program helps landowners protect and restore wetlands across the state and in three special project areas. The application deadline for WRE is Jan. 26, 2018.  Learn more here. 

In Arkansas, three watersheds are included in the NWQI for FY17 financial assistance. The three watersheds are Cousart Bayou-Little Cypress Bayou, Upper Deep Bayou and Lower Deep Bayou in portions of Jefferson and Lincoln counties. Producers in these watersheds have until Jan. 30, 2017, to apply for funding consideration at their local NRCS office. More than $1.4 million is available in Arkansas. Read the news release.

Recognizing early the need for conservation and wise use of farm resources, he became a first proponent of techniques that employed new ideas and technology to produce more grain with fewer inputs. Read more here.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (November 1, 2017) - With the recent announcement of current director Jeff Crow stepping down in February, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has begun the process of advertising and recruiting its next leader. Learn more here.

LITTLE ROCK — The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service has allocated $300,000 to assist with the implementation of woodland management practices in seven counties – including Union – in Arkansas. The deadline to apply is July 20. Learn more.

Heir Property Barriers will be the main topic at the "Keeping It in the Family" Sustainable Forestry and African-American Land Retention (SFLR) workshop Saturday, April 8 at the Lafayette County High School Cafeteria in Stamps. The workshop begins at 10 a.m. and will end at 1 p.m. Learn more here.

A lot of people have to buy in to protect Southern forests: Most of the land is held in small private patches, a few dozen acres here and there that in combination form whole forests.

A new conservation program aims to manage the environment in north Louisiana and southern Arkansas by getting all those landowners pulling in the same direction. Read the article.

Farmers and landowners in five Arkansas counties have until March 1, 2017, to submit applications to receive financial assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to implement conservation practices in two Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) projects.  Applicants can sign up at their local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service field service center.

In Arkansas, bobwhite quail may soon be primed for recovery thanks to a new habitat-improvement program.

According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Natural Resources Conservation Service will offer more than $600,000 to landowners in 20 counties for improving bobwhite quail habitat. These funds will be provided through the Working Lands for Wildlife program, an NRCS initiative designed to help landowners improve habitat for at-risk species. Read the article.

The Arkansas Natural Resources Commission and the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service are getting ready to start a new cost-sharing program with some of the state's farmers to better measure how much water is used on fields. Learn more here.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service is making $20 million available to Arkansas landowners to restore wetlands. The program to limit future development is voluntary and funded by the 2014 Farm Bill. Read more.

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is adding 11 new projects to Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW), the agency’s targeted, science-based effort to help producers restore and protect habitat for declining species on farms, ranches and working forests.

Farmers across Arkansas and from across the country are invited to the Southern Agricultural Cover Crops, Soil Health and Water Management Conference December 13 - 14 being held at the Arkansas State University Convocation Center in Jonesboro, Ark.  For more information or to register for the Southern Agricultural Cover Crops, Soil Health and Water Management Conference, contact Debbie Moreland, AACD program administrator, at (501) 682-2915.

• Conference Registration Form (PDF)
• Conference Flyer and Agenda (PDF)

If you are a forester, private landowner, or state/federal agency habitat manager, then you will want to learn the results of a project assessing "Desired Ecological States Provided by Open Pine in Managed Forests," sponsored by the Gulf Coastal Plains & Ozarks Landscape Conservation Cooperative.  Why?  Because existing data was incorporated into HabPlan harvest scheduling software to simulate a variety of management options across 50 years.  The results identify options for providing open pine wildlife habitat conditions in managed forests across the region as well as biodiversity responses to those management options. The Society of American Foresters has pre-approved this webinar for one Continuing Forestry Education credit hour.

Register Here »

Shortleaf pine numbers are shrinking in the southeastern United States, but Arkansas and other states are working to restore the durable and long-living trees in the region's forests. Learn more here.

The Walmart Foundation has given $1 million to a partnership led by Ducks Unlimited and USA Rice to help rice producers "increase sustainability and profitability," the waterfowl conservation nonprofit announced Aug. 5, 2016.

Read more here.

Through its Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Partnership (WREP), the USDA is awarding $44.6 million to support 10 wetland enhancement projects on private and tribal agricultural lands in 12 States. The WREP is a special option under the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program. Read the press release.

Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have published a new study that demonstrates that agricultural conservation practices in the upper Mississippi River watershed can reduce nitrogen inputs to area streams and rivers by as much as 34 percent.