Manhattan ? It has been 20 years since the Food Security Act of 1985 was signed into law. Since then, many producers have realized that conservation planning and practice applications are very important parts of their overall farming operation. In some cases, maintaining compliance with the conservation requirements of the act determined whether a producer can continue to farm or must make a decision to quit altogether. Not much has been released lately about conservation compliance; however, it is still one of the major requirements of which producers must be aware to protect their eligibility for most U.S. Department of Agriculture programs.

Each year, a portion of land tracts are randomly selected for review by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and provided to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for county field office staff members to evaluate. After the evaluation period, NRCS will make a determination on whether compliance with planned conservation measures is being maintained on all “highly erodible” cropland on the tract. That determination will affect whether producers are in compliance and thus maintain their eligibility for USDA programs.

As mentioned earlier, eligibility for USDA programs is related to a producer’s compliance or noncompliance status. Programs affected by compliance are, but not limited to:

¢ Environmental Quality Incentives Program

¢ Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program

¢ Wetlands Reserve Program

¢ Grassland Reserve Program

¢ Conservation Security Program

¢ Farm Service Agency Programs

¢ Conservation Reserve Program

¢ Other USDA programs.

All producers should also be conscious of another aspect of conservation compliance, specifically wetland compliance. Many producers have found out the hard way that compliance with the wetland protection provisions of the 1985 Farm Bill is still an important consideration. Violation of wetland provisions can mean producers could lose their eligibility for USDA programs and benefits until the wetland violations are corrected or mitigated. Producers who wish to remove trees for fill in low areas need to check with their NRCS field office prior to doing these activities to protect themselves from unwanted violations and possible interruption of their USDA benefits.

All producers, who have concerns regarding their eligibility for USDA programs, are encouraged to stop by their local NRCS or FSA office for assistance with their issues.

For more information about NRCS programs, visit the Kansas NRCS Web site at www.ks.nrcs.usda.gov.