Conservation Clips is a weekly collection of articles distributed by NACD that provides our members and partners with the latest news in what’s driving conservation. These articles are not indicative of NACD policy and are the opinions of their authors, unless otherwise noted. If you have a relevant submission or need assistance accessing articles, please contact the NACD Communications Team.
NACD: Coalition Urges Passage of Farm Bill 2.0
09/10/2025
On behalf of the undersigned organizations, we write to express our sincere appreciation for your commitment to America’s farmers, ranchers, and rural communities. We are grateful for the tireless efforts of the respective Agriculture Committee’s leadership in working towards a bipartisan Farm Bill.
Michigan Advance: The Federal Farm Policy Trap: Why Some Farmers Are Stuck Raising Crops That No Longer Thrive
By
09/09/2025
In these Mississippi River bottoms, federal farm policy became a trap. Farming is one of the most heavily subsidized industries in America. Each year, Congress allocates billions to keep crops in the ground, cushioning the blow from droughts, floods, fires and market swings — a safety net that dates to the 1930s, when the Depression and Dust Bowl put the nation’s food supply at risk.
USDA: USDA and DOI Announce Bold Federal Reforms to Improve Nation’s Wildfire Response System
09/15/2025
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins today issued a new memorandum to modernize and strengthen America’s wildfire prevention and response system. This policy direction enacts common-sense reforms that modernize and streamline federal wildfire system. Concurrently, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum issued his own memorandum to streamline capabilities and strengthen federal, state, and local partnerships.
Montana Free Press: Wildfire services remain independent in new federal plans
By Robert Chaney
09/17/2025
Proposals to streamline federal wildfire services leave the two main firefighting agencies separate, according to documents released Sept. 15. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins each announced their agencies’ response to a White House executive order with multi-page descriptions of how they plan to reform wildland fire response. Those include combining oversight of aviation services and fire research, eliminating regulatory barriers to the use of fire retardant, and standardizing job and pay levels.
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USDA-NRCS: Conservation Innovation: Tracking cattle with GPS in Alaska
By Tracy Robillard | Alaska | Pacific Northern Plains Region
08/12/25
Ranchers with the FRCA teamed up with their local conservation district, the Homer Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), to apply for funding to field test new technologies that track cattle movements using global positioning system (GPS) data. They applied for and received a Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The grant allowed them to identify, demonstrate and field test GPS technologies and determine how effective, useful, reliable and user-friendly they are in sending real-time GPS data about cattle locations to online mapping applications.
Yahoo News: Federal funding cuts leave conservation work in a state of limbo for some
By Brad Dokken | Park River, ND | Northern Plains Region
09/13/2025
As watershed coordinator for the Walsh County Three Rivers Soil Conservation District in northeast North Dakota, Josh Anderson knows the challenges of implementing conservation on a shoestring budget. Educating landowners on ways to reduce soil erosion and collecting weekly water samples to monitor water quality throughout the Park River Watershed are priorities for Anderson, one of only three full-time staff members in the Walsh County Three Rivers SCD office.
Federal funding cuts to food program impacts communities and farmers
Izzy Bloom | California | Pacific Region
09/14/2025
Earlier this year, the Trump administration announced it was cutting funds for a program that almost 8,000 food banks and communities have relied on for fresh, local food. For the Hoopa Valley Tribe in California, the funding had helped them provide meat, fruits and vegetables, and it created reliable income for their farmers. KQED’s Izzy Bloom reports from Humboldt County.
Farm Progress: How to use cattle as an ecosystem management tool
By Jason Johnson | Iowa | North Central Region
09/17/2025
Jackson County farmer Brian Noonan, assisted by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, is transforming an open-grazed pasture that he says “needed a lot of work” into a more diverse and sustainable one focused on organic grassland restoration.
The Columbian: In Our View: Efforts to expand tree canopy beneficial to all
Washington | Pacific Region
09/17/2025
(Opinion) The Clark Conservation District last year partnered with Clark County to plant 500 trees in local parks. Now, said Ryan Savaikie of the conservation district, “We have funding through Lower Columbia Fish Recovery board to plant between 50 to 80 trees in yards throughout the Hazel Dell neighborhood.”
Gettysburg Times: Tillage trends and cover crop currents
Pennsylvania | Northeast Region
09/18/2025
The Adams County Conservation District has been working closely with the producers in the county for over 20 years to make that happen. We are happy to report that farmers in Adams County have risen to the challenge! Field verification surveying done in the last 10 years has shown that nearly 65 percent of all crop fields in Adams County have residue levels greater than 60 percent at time of planting.