Fiscal Year 2003 Accomplishments

Accomplishments Worth Noting…

• Designated 9th Resource Conservation and Development area (Solomon Valley RC&D) in July 2003.  Coronado Crossing RC&D area remains pending and Smoky Hills RC&D area in west central Kansas is forming. RC&D areas now cover 80 percent of Kansas.
• Signed a joint agreement with Nebraska NRCS to pilot a carbon credit trading market.
• Evaluated 4,279 Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) applications through a digital process saving 11,000 staff hours and providing county and state consistency.
• Rolled out the new Grassland Reserve Program (GRP).
• Wrote nearly 4,000 Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts enrolling over 200,000 cropland acres during the last two weeks of September 2003.
• Accepted 29 applications for EQIP Ground and Surface Water Program where the contact holders agreed to convert 5,720 acres of irrigated cropland to dryland cropland or permanent vegetation and also entered into 10-year contracts with the Kansas Department of Agriculture to not use their water rights on any acres.
• Completed digitizing 41 soil surveys, exceeded goal of 37.

Value Added by NRCS Conservation Programs in Fiscal Year 2003…

• EQIP General - $12.7 million for 297,489 acres
• EQIP Ground and Surface Water Program - $3.5 million for 23,811 acres
• Wetlands Reserve Program - $1.7 million for 1,469 acres
• Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program - $457,000 for 14,483 acres
• GRP - $2.3 million for 6,390 acres
• Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program - $474,000 for 3,864 acres
• Watershed Rehabilitation Program - $845,000
• Small Watershed Program - $1.7 million

Impacts of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)…

• Total dollars paid annually to Kansas CRP participants by Farm Service Agency = over $103,065,000
• Total acres currently in general CRP contracts = 2,659,745 as of July 2003
• Total acres in continuous CRP contracts signups 25 & 27 = 6,113
• Total acres in FY-03 signup 26 = 293,995

Making A Difference with NRCS Technical Assistance…

• NRCS provides technical assistance for conservation district cost-share programs totaling $5 million annually.
• Provided technical assistance to the State Conservation Commission to carry out the Buffer Initiative.

Making A Difference Every Day…

Currently, NRCS employs 415 full-time and part-time employees to address the local resource needs within the conservation districts. Eighty-four percent of the employees are field office based. The major categories of our permanent field-based staff include:

• 104 District Conservationists
• 11 Resource Conservationists
• 27 Soil Conservationists
• 96 Soil Conservation Technicians
• 10 Civil Engineering Technicians
• 11 Rangeland Management Specialists
• 12 Engineers
• 8 RC&D Coordinators
• 16 Soil Scientists

Managing Workload with Technical Service Providers (TSPs)…

Allocated almost $1.3 million to employ partners and TSPs to assist with the Farm Bill workload. Examples follow:

• Established a contract totaling $450,000 with three engineering firms to assist with planning, design, and construction inspection of manure management systems.
• Signed a contribution agreement with Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks for assistance from 15 biologists to provide technical assistance to landowners interested in the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program.
• Signed a contribution agreement with Kansas Forest Service to provide technical services to landowners who enter into 2002 Farm Bill programs, such as WHIP, WRP, and EQIP.
• Signed an agreement with Kansas State Extension Service to provide training to TSPs.
• Signed contracts with two engineering firms for $574,000 to assess the condition of watershed dams and determine rehabilitation needs.
• Funded over $90,000 through EQIP contracts for producers to hire private TSPs.

Accomplishments for FY-03…

• 622,634 acres of conservation planning on cropland
• 390,264 acres of conservation application on cropland
• 421,500 acres of conservation planning on grazing lands
• 179,005 acres of conservation application on grazing lands
• 292,446  acres of erosion reduction practices applied on cropland
• 93,206 acres of nutrient management applied to cropland
• 190,273 acres of pest management applied on cropland
• 61,471 acres of irrigation water management applied
• 1,009 acres of wetlands restored
• 201,530 acres of wildlife habitat management applied
• 8,168 acres of conservation buffers applied
• 503 acres of trees and shrubs planted
• 326,000 acres of soil surveys mapping updated

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