WASHINGTON, May 5, 2023 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is quickly ramping up hiring of new team members to help implement $19.5 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) for conservation programs, which is part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. For example, NRCS opened job announcements this week for soil conservationists. This batch of job openings is part of a broader effort by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to help producers develop conservation plans and implement conservation practices, including critical climate-smart practices.

“The Inflation Reduction Act represents the single largest investment in climate and clean energy solutions in American history, and NRCS’ programs are an important part of our efforts,” said Robert Bonnie, USDA’s Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC). “To help agricultural producers invest in conservation on their farms, ranches and working forests, we need to grow our team that delivers our conservation programs. This next generation of conservation talent will help us build upon our long history of working one-on-one with producers to get conservation on the ground.”

NRCS soil conservationists offer conservation planning and technical help to agricultural producers, helping them implement practices that sequester carbon, mitigate against climate change and conserve other natural resources. This assistance helps producers who apply and are funded for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, Regional Conservation Partnership Program, and others.