(NAFB.com) – The National Association of Conservation Districts wrote to leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, urging robust support for USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service’s operations budget. With the support of more than 120 conservation and agriculture groups, NACD requested $1.2 billion in FY 2026 Conservation Operations Funding and urged Congress to reject any changes in mandatory spending for farm bill conservation programs. Conservation Operations funds Conservation Technical Assistance nationwide. It also funds important programs like soil surveys, snow surveys, water supply forecasting, and more. “With 60 percent of our nation’s lands in private ownership, our ability to achieve landscape-scale conservation goals requires the voluntary cooperation of millions of farmers, ranchers, and forest stewards who manage these lands,” says NACD President Gary Blair. “At a time when producers are facing extreme challenges from the farm economy and weather impacts, conservation helps increase the resilience of their lands and has economic benefits.”
