Program |
Description |
Event |
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Technical Assistance |
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County offices provide direct service to producers to help them understand available programs, eligibility and requirements, application processes and deadlines, and business plan development assistance. |
All |
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County offices provide planning assistance for watershed protection projects, water quality improvement projects, wetland preservation, and management for agricultural and rural communities. |
All |
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Technical assistance is targeted to help communities build capacity from within thereby empowering them to develop and sustain their own communities. TA includes strategic planning or leadership development, developing and strengthening partnerships and finding financial resources and bringing them to the table. |
All |
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Evaluating and creating web tools that can help land managers make management decisions that will benefit farms, ranches and forests in light of increasing drought. Regional vulnerability assessments point out drought impacts that land managers can consider in designing management programs/practices. |
All |
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Provides education resources to reduce the impact of natural and man- made disasters, as a part of the Cooperative Extension Service. |
All |
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Disaster Payments For Agricultural Losses |
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Livestock Forage Program |
Provides compensation to eligible livestock producers that have suffered grazing losses for covered livestock on land that is native or improved pastureland with permanent vegetative cover or is planted specifically for grazing. |
Drought, Fire |
Tree Assistance Program |
Provides financial assistance to qualifying orchardists and nursery tree growers to replant or rehabilitate eligible trees, bushes and vines damaged by natural disasters. |
All |
Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, & Farm-raised Fish |
Provides Emergency relief to producers of livestock, honey bees, and farm-raised fish. Covers losses from disaster such as adverse weather or other conditions, such as blizzards and wildfires not adequately covered by any other disaster program. |
All |
Emergency Conservation Program |
Funding and technical assistance for farmland damaged by natural disasters and for carrying out emergency water conservation measures. |
All |
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Loans/Credit |
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Emergency Farm Loans |
USDA-designated natural disaster areas qualify for low-interest emergency loans to help producers recover from production and physical losses due to drought, flooding, other natural disasters, or quarantine. |
All |
Guaranteed Farm Loans Program |
Farm loans may be used to cover operating expenses or farmland purchases, including constructing or repairing buildings and fixtures, purchasing equipment, feed, seed, fuel, insurance, and refinancing debt. |
All |
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Risk Management/Insurance |
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Federal Crop Insurance |
For information on haying or grazing of cover crops, or on payment grace periods, producers should contact their crop insurance agents. |
All |
Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program |
Production loss coverage when federal crop insurance is not available. |
All |
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Conservation and Land Management |
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Conservation Reserve Program |
Pays a yearly rental payment in exchange for farmers removing environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and planting species that will improve environmental quality. |
Preventative |
Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program |
An offshoot of CRP, targets high-priority conservation issues identified by government and non-government organizations. Eligible farmland is removed from production in exchange for annual rental rates. |
Preventative |
Emergency Forest Restoration Program |
Provides funding to restore privately owned forests damaged by natural disasters. |
All |
Hay Net & Grazing Net |
An Internet-based service allowing farmers and ranchers to share ads online for available hay or grazing lands, or need-based ads requesting hay or grazing lands. |
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Environmental Quality Incentives Program |
Current EQIP contracts can be modified to address drought conditions, including adding livestock watering facilities, chipping dead trees and applying dust management practices. New contracts can be used to build long-term drought resilience by building soil health, supporting irrigation water management, and planting cover crops. |
Drought |
Emergency Watershed Protection |
Helping communities address watershed impairments that pose imminent threats to lives and property, including from rain events and associated debris exacerbated by drought conditions. |
All |
Agricultural Conservation Easement Program |
USDA can authorize haying and grazing of ACEP easement areas in drought-affected areas where such haying and grazing is consistent with conservation of wildlife habitat and wetlands. |
Drought |
Regional Conservation Partnership Program |
Through RCPP, NRCS and its partners help producers install and maintain conservation activities in selected project areas. Partners leverage RCPP funding with other sources. Eligible partners interested in applying should consult the announcement for program funding. Drought resilience is one of the resource concerns addressed by RCPP. |
Preventative |
Conservation Innovation Grants |
Like venture capital, CIG provides seed funding for creative approaches to advancing private land conservation. Drought resilience is one of the resource concerns targeted. |
All* |
Ogallala Aquifer Initiative |
NRCS has invested $66 M since 2011. In FY15 it is targeting $6.5 million to help farmers in 8 Great Plains states, conserving billions of gallons of water per year, through more efficient irrigation management practices (e.g. soil sensors) and converting irrigated cropland to dry land farming. |
Drought |
Watershed Rehabilitation Program |
In FY15 NRCS announced $73M in Watershed Rehabilitation funding for 150 projects around the country, including 15 in California. Funds are used to rehabilitate and assess dams, delivering benefits that may include improved water supply in drought affected areas. |
Drought |
Two Chiefs Joint Landscape Restoration Partnership |
A multi-year effort to improve the health and resilience of forest ecosystems where public and private lands meet across the nation. |
Preventative |
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Household and Community Water Supplies |
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Emergency Community Water Assistance Grants |
Assists the residents of rural areas that have experienced a significant decline in quantity or quality of water, or in which such a decline is considered imminent to obtain or maintain adequate quantities of water that meet the standards set by the Safe Drinking Water Act. |
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Community Waste Disposal and Water Facilities Grants & Loans |
Priority to the loan or grant application of a rural community where immediate action is needed due to unanticipated diminution of the water supply. |
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Business and Cooperative Development Loan and Grant |
This program works in partnership with the private sector and the community-based organizations to provide financial assistance and business planning. It also helps fund projects that create or preserve quality jobs and/or promote a clean rural environment. |
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Rural Business-Cooperative Service Cooperative Services Technical Assistance |
Provides technical assistance to rural residents in forming new cooperative businesses and improving the operations of existing cooperatives. RBS conducts cooperative related research and promotes a public understanding of cooperatives through education and information dissemination. |
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Housing & Community Facilities Programs |
Provides technical assistance on the Housing and Community Facilities Programs, which helps rural communities and individuals by providing loans and grants for housing and community facilities. |
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