Washington, DC – Over the weekend, Invest in Our Land (IIOL) issued the following statement in response to the Trump Administration’s proposed Fiscal Year 2027 budget for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) agency that delivers federal conservation programs to America’s farmers and ranchers. The proposed budget would cut Conservation Technical Assistance from $850,000,000 in 2026 to a request of $111,472,000 in 2027 – a reduction of $738.5 million. Per the budget document, the proposed budget would also lead to significant staff reductions for NRCS state offices. 46 out of 51 states would be left with fewer than 10 NRCS employees.
Proposed cuts for a number of key agricultural states are shown below:
| State | 2026 | 2027 | Cut |
| Arkansas | 56 | 8 | -86% |
| South Dakota | 53 | 8 | -85% |
| Iowa | 52 | 8 | -85% |
| Pennsylvania | 43 | 6 | -86% |
| Georgia | 43 | 6 | -86% |
| Louisiana | 37 | 5 | -87% |
| Colorado | 42 | 6 | -86% |
| Minnesota | 38 | 6 | -84% |
“America’s farmers and ranchers are facing punishing economic headwinds ranging from high input costs and volatile commodity prices to extreme weather and growing uncertainty about the future,” said IIOL Executive Director Rebecca Bartels. “Federal conservation programs are among the most effective, proven, and popular tools they have to cut costs, boost productivity, and build the resilience they need to survive these conditions. But these programs only work if NRCS has the staff to deliver them and right now, it doesn’t. Farmers across the country are already telling us that their local NRCS offices are understaffed and overburdened. NRCS has already lost 22 percent of its workforce, and producers are feeling the consequences every day. By failing to address this staffing crisis and instead proposing to eliminate all discretionary funding for Conservation Technical Assistance – the conservation planners, soil scientists, and engineers who are the backbone of NRCS program delivery – this budget proposal would make a bad situation worse. Furthermore, their own budget documents show dramatic state-by-state staffing reductions that would leave most states with fewer than ten NRCS employees. Congress already rejected a similar proposal last year, and for good reason. We urge lawmakers to reject it again, address the staffing crisis that is already undermining conservation delivery, and pass a Farm Bill that strengthens these programs and ensures USDA can actually get this critical funding to the farmers who need it.”
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Invest in Our Land is a nonpartisan organization committed to amplifying the voices of American farmers and ranchers and ensuring they have the tools and support they need to implement conservation practices that strengthen their operations, safeguard our natural resources, and secure the future of U.S. agriculture. Learn more at investinourland.org.
