Funding Library
Grants
Agriculture Management Assistance Conservation Innovation Grant Conservation Stewardship Programt The Environmental Quality Incentives Program The Rural Energy for America Program The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program North Central SARE Northeast SARE Southern SARE Western SARE GrantsLoans
Farm Service Agency Funding Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP)Emergency and Disaster Relief
Coronavirus Food Assistance Program The Paycheck Protection Program Farm Service Agency FundingEasement
The Agriculture Easement Conservation Program The Conservation Reserve Program The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) Forest health & restoration The Water Bank ProgramThe Agriculture Easement Conservation Program
Conservation easements are long-term agreements that protect agriculture land from conversion to non-agricultural development. These programs safeguard America’s farmland and food supply chains while protecting rural landscapes and communities from exploitative development. In exchange for development rights, landowners receive an upfront payment from a government, tribe, or NGO while continuing to use the farm for agriculture and partnering with this entity to implement conservation practices on their land. Farmers with eligible wetland can directly partner with the NRCS through an easement, but many easement programs are facilitated through non-NRCS entities, such as the American Farmland Trust. Easements are characterized by term limits (30-year easements) or permanent easement status (e.g. the easement continues forward in perpetuity) and can be an excellent way to boost farm income while safeguarding the operation for future generations.