Conservation plans and soil and water conservation practice use: Evidence from Iowa

Conservation planning is the primary tool the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) uses to help farmers manage and protect the nation's soil, water, air, plant, animal, energy, and human natural resources on privately owned lands. While research studies have investigated a multitude of factors that could possibly influence farmer adoption of conservation practices, no recent research exists examining the relationship between having an NRCS conservation plan and the likelihood of applying conservation practices on the ground. This is surprising given that conservation planning is considered to be the foundation for USDA's technical and financial assistance to agricultural landowners, and recently both the updated NRCS Strategic Plan and the National Conservation Planning Partnership emphasized the need to enhance and expand conservation planning. In this study we analyzed data from 792 respondents of the 2015 and 2016 collection periods of a panel survey of Iowa farmers to examine the relationship between having an NRCS conservation plan and farmers' implementation of 10 soil and water conservation practices in four categories: (1) soil health, (2) nitrogen (N) management, (3) structural practices, and (4) cropland converted to perennial crops. The results indicate that farmers who reported having an NRCS conservation plan are significantly more likely to have implemented two conservation practices: no-till and terraces. In addition, there was a significant relationship between the number of times a farmer visited a USDA Service Center for conservation and the likelihood they implemented 5 of the 10 selected practices, particularly in the soil health and structural practice categories. These results suggest that it is not the plan itself, but rather the sustained interaction with natural resource professionals, that makes a difference in the use of conservation practices. Implications of the study results for NRCS conservation planning moving forward in the future are discussed.

Automated summary

Conservation planning is a key tool for NRCS to assist farmers in managing and protecting natural resources. Surprisingly, having an NRCS conservation plan itself does not directly impact farmers' likelihood of adopting conservation practices. Farmers with an NRCS plan are more likely to implement conservation practices, and sustained interaction with natural resource professionals also plays a role in influencing the use of these practices.