Staffing the Natural Resources Conservation Service
Finding and retaining employees has been a long-standing challenge for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
However, staffing up became especially important after USDA received $19.5 billion in conservation program funding from the Inflation Reduction Act. The extra workers are needed to help farmers plan and implement conservation practices.
As you can see on the chart above, NRCS staffing reached a ten-year low in 2019, but it’s now on the rise.
The agency hit its 623-person hiring goal during fiscal 2023 and provided $2 billion in overall conservation program funding, including over $390 million from the Inflation Reduction Act.
Agency officials say they need approximately 14,000 employees to handle the additional demands for assistance with conservation practices.
NRCS says the goal is to hire 1,600 people this year, 1,200 next year and 1,100 in 2026.
Read more about NRCS staffing in Noah Wicks’ series here and here
To learn more about "Map it Out" and "Ag By the Numbers," check out our Newsmakers show.
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