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Conservation technical assistance essential

Conservation leaders stressed the importance of technical assistance and local staff to support farmers at Tuesday’s Senate Ag Committee hearing.

South Dakota farmer and past Farm Service Agency Branch Chief Lynn Tjeerdsma has been dedicated to conservation for more than 50 years.

“If we don’t have the technical assistance that is available to us now, I think these conservation programs are going to go by the wayside simply because the farmers and ranchers aren’t going to be utilizing them,” he says.

Fourth-generation Illinois farmer and certified crop advisor Megan Dwyer says Natural Resources Conservation Service staff are trusted experts and need support.

“If we expect to see less staff in these offices with the archaic IT and systems that they’re using, we’re going to continue to see long lines, delays in enrollment, struggles and frustrations with the farmers showing up,” she shares.

Gary Blair is the president of the National Association of Conservation Districts, which closely partners with NRCS.

“We are concerned about the reported separation of almost 2,400 in NRCS employees and the potential return to FY 2020 onboard staffing levels,” he says.

Blair says technical assistance is the foundation of program delivery and needs to be sufficient to meet producer needs.