
Press Release
Organic farming is an ecologically-based system that relies on preventative practices for weed, insect and disease problems, uses nontoxic methods to manage problems if they arise, and improves the natural resources of the land, including soil and water quality.
NRCS can help organic producers develop a conservation plan that meets their goals, and can often help with financial assistance to implement elements of the plan. There are a wide variety of materials available for agricultural producers who have adopted organic practices as well as those who would like to transition to organic production.
Learn more with our resources below:
Watch our video for an overview of how NRCS assists organic famers.
Learn about the technical and financial assistance NRCS offers for organic producers.
Browse the different areas in which NRCS provides assistance — from biodiversity to weed management.
Explore NRCS' downloadable materials and other USDA resources for organic producers.
National NRCS Organic Contacts
National Training Partners through Oregon Tilth
The Organic Transition Initiative is a $300 million multi-agency USDA effort to support farmers transitioning to organic and to build and strengthen organic markets.
NRCS provides assistance to organic producers in a wide variety of areas, from biodiversity to weed management.
Do you farm or ranch and want to make improvements to the land that you own or lease?
Natural Resources Conservation Service offers technical and financial assistance to help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.
To get started with NRCS, we recommend you stop by your local NRCS field office. We’ll discuss your vision for your land.
NRCS provides landowners with free technical assistance, or advice, for their land. Common technical assistance includes: resource assessment, practice design and resource monitoring. Your conservation planner will help you determine if financial assistance is right for you.
We’ll walk you through the application process. To get started on applying for financial assistance, we’ll work with you:
Once complete, we’ll work with you on the application, or CPA 1200.
Applications for most programs are accepted on a continuous basis, but they’re considered for funding in different ranking periods. Be sure to ask your local NRCS district conservationist about the deadline for the ranking period to ensure you turn in your application in time.
As part of the application process, we’ll check to see if you are eligible. To do this, you’ll need to bring:
If you don’t have a farm tract number, you can get one from USDA’s Farm Service Agency. Typically, the local FSA office is located in the same building as the local NRCS office. You only need a farm tract number if you’re interested in financial assistance.
NRCS will take a look at the applications and rank them according to local resource concerns, the amount of conservation benefits the work will provide and the needs of applicants.
If you’re selected, you can choose whether to sign the contract for the work to be done.
Once you sign the contract, you’ll be provided standards and specifications for completing the practice or practices, and then you will have a specified amount of time to implement. Once the work is implemented and inspected, you’ll be paid the rate of compensation for the work if it meets NRCS standards and specifications.