WASHINGTON, D.C. – On the heels of the first anniversary of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the USDA has seen record interest in the conservation and clean energy programs that received funding from the law. As a key part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the Inflation Reduction Act is the nation’s largest-ever investment to combat climate change.
The Inflation Reduction Act made nearly $20 billion available over five years for USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to address continuous high demand for popular conservation programs. This additional investment will help farmers and ranchers implement expanded conservation practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon storage. Importantly, many of the practices funded under the Inflation Reduction Act provide significant environmental co-benefits for producers outside of their climate mitigation value. Consistent with the direction from Congress in the Inflation Reduction Act, NRCS made available $850 million for these programs in Fiscal Year 2023 and has already seen substantially more interest than funding available under the law. These amounts include both financial assistance that will be included in contracts and agreements, and the technical assistance needed to implement complex on-the-ground conservation systems.
- The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), for which $250 million was made available, received nearly 9,000 applications totaling nearly $475 million.
- The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), which has $100 million available for 2023, received over $180 million in applications.
- The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) has received nearly 3,700 applications requesting funding that exceeds the available amount of $250 million.
- The Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), for which $250 million was made available, has received project proposals exceeding $2 billion in funding.
As of August 2023, USDA has publicly announced the availability of over $17 billion, or 45% of the 10-year total of Inflation Reduction Act funding, for new and existing programs. Additionally, USDA has already put significant resources directly into the pockets of farmers and small business owners. For example, USDA:
- Provided $1.15 billion to date to over 20,000 distressed direct and guaranteed Farm Service Agency (FSA) loan borrowers, helping them reach long-term stability and operate successful, thriving agricultural businesses.
- Recently announced 1,234 grants to help thousands of agricultural operations and rural small business owners access clean energy systems and energy efficient improvements through the Inflation Reduction Act resources that bolster the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).
- Awarded $262.5 million to provide training and support to more than 20,000 students that will sustain the next generation of food, agriculture, natural resources and human sciences workforce
- Announced $300 million for 50 selected projects under the Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program, to increase access to farm ownership opportunities, improve results for those with heirs’ property or fractionated land, increase access to markets and capital that affect the ability to access land, and improve land ownership, land succession and agricultural business planning
- Announced $300 million to improve measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration in climate-smart agriculture and forestry.
For more information on the USDA’s implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, visit: www.usda.gov/ira