Federal program helped conservation in Iowa

A report from the Center for Rural Affairs found that funding from the Inflation Reduction Act had a “significant impact” on the adoption of conservation practices in Iowa.

The report examined two popular programs that fund practices to improve soil health, water quality or conservation. The boost in funding to these programs from IRA was redirected by the recently enacted federal tax and spending bill, but the programs are set to persist through 2031 with an increased baseline.

The report focused on the Conservation Stewardship Program, or CSP, and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, or EQIP, both of which help farmers implement more sustainable practices by helping to cover some of the costs.

EQIP funding is typically used to support one element, like supplementing the cost of seeding a cover crop on a field, or the cost of fencing for a rancher who wants to implement rotational grazing practices.

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USDA programs support conservation in Iowa. They may be underfunded.

CSP contracts are usually longer than EQIP contracts and require producers to implement multiple regenerative or conservation practices in their operations.

According to the report, these programs have been historically oversubscribed, with about 25 percent of applicants receiving contracts in 2022.

The Inflation Reduction Act, which passed in 2022, allocated $8.45 billion for EQIP and $3.25 billion for CSP through 2026.

This allocation significantly increased the funding that was allocated under the 2018 Farm Bill.

IRA funding meant Iowa had a 77 percent increase in CSP obligations and a 108 percent increase in EQIP obligations in 2024 compared with 2022, according to the report.

“The underlying significance of this data is that Iowa was able to forward 100 percent of the funding they received for EQIP and CSP from the IRA on to Iowa’s farmers,” Kalee Olson, who authored the report, said in a release. “It demonstrates the dedication of local (Natural Resources Conservation Service) staff and the willingness of producers to go the extra mile for their operations and our natural resources.”

Contracts funded by IRA had to employ “climate-smart agriculture practices” which the NRCS defined as those that respond “to climate change by reducing or removing greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation) and adapting and building resilience (adaptation), while sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and incomes.”

Practices included cover crops, planting pasture or hay, planting in critical areas, no till and prescribed grazing.

Funding from the Inflation Reduction Act significantly increased the EQIP and CSP programs in Iowa.

According to the report, cover cropping and tillage reduction were the most popular methods utilized by Iowa farmers with CSP or EQIP contracts. An analysis in the report shows eight of the top 10 practices implemented by farmers in these contracts in 2023 and 2024 were climate smart practices, regardless of if the project was funded by IRA or not.

The report said there was “no indication” that interest in the programs will decline, and that the additional funding has made a “significant impact” on the implementation of practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state.

“Moving forward, lawmakers and other federal decision makers must support policy and administrative action that continue to meet the demand of producers in Iowa and across the nation,” the report said.

The IRA funding was set to stretch through 2031, but much of the law has since been scrapped since the change in administration.

The tax and spending cuts package known as the “one big beautiful” law rescinded unobligated IRA funding for EQIP, CSP and several other conservation programs with USDA, but it increased the permanent farm bill baselines for the programs.

Under the law, which President Donald Trump signed July 4, EQIP is funded by fiscal year at $2.6 billion for 2026, $2.8 billion for 2027 and $3.2 billion annually from 2028 to 2031. CSP funding under the bill is at $1.3 billion for 2026, $1.3 billion for 2027, $1.3 billion for 2028 and $1.3 billion annually for 2029 through 2031.

An analysis of the bill from American Farm Bureau Federation said this funding represented a “redirection” of IRA funding rather than program expansions.

This article first appeared in Iowa Capital Dispatch.