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Welcome ______________________________________________________________2Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) ___________________________3Agricultural Land Easements (ALE) _________________________________________3Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) _______________________________________4Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) ____________________________________4Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) ________________________________________5Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWP)______________________________6Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) __________________________________7General Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) _____________________ 7-8Initiatives Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) ___________________ 8-11Resources Inventories: Soil Survey, NRI and Cultural Resources _________________12Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) ________________________ 13-14

Table of Contents

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Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 was yet another successful year for NRCS in Missouri, beginning with a statewide staffing restructure that included the reorganization of Field Office Service Area (FOSA) boundaries in January and the kick-off of the 2014 Farm Bill in February. Our first six months of FY15 were extremely busy, to say the least. Over the course of 12 months, NRCS Missouri obligated $68.3 million in

financial assistance for planned conservation efforts on 1.4 million acres of this great state. Employees processed 3,434 contracts and thousands of miles were logged during visits to farmers and landowners all across Missouri. Missouri is truly second to none in conservation opportunities for farmers and

ranchers. I credit our hard-working staff and core conservation partners for the success we had in the field this past year. A retired veteran in southwest Missouri was able to pursue his dream of raising sheep with assistance from EQIP, while a landowner in central Missouri was aided with NRCS assistance in developing a forest management plan for land that’s been in his family for nearly 80 years. The list of accomplishments in Missouri is impressive, but we’re not done yet. FY15 activities will continue into the new year with even greater opportunities available to conservation-minded farmers. I look forward to what we will accomplish together in 2016.

GREETINGS,

J.R. FloresState Conservationist

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AGRICULTURAL CONSERVATION EASEMENT PROGRAM (ACEP)The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) provides financial and technical assistance to help conserve agricultural lands, wetlands and their related benefits.

ACEP-Wetland Reserve Easements (WREs) replaced the Wetlands Reserve Program of the 2008 Farm Bill and helps landowners restore wetlands.

ACEP-Agricultural Land Easements (ALE) replaced the Grassland Reserve Program (GRP) and Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP) of the 2008 Farm Bill. ALE prevents conversion of productive working lands to non-agricultural uses.

In FY15, $332 million was available nationally through ACEP. Missouri landowners were awarded $3.9 million to protect and restore wetlands in an effort to provide wildlife habitat for migratory birds, threatened and endangered species, and other wetland wildlife.

Fifty-five ACEP applications were received in Missouri and 11 new tracts were enrolled for a total of 868 new ACEP-WRE acres. By the end of FY15, 1,095 wetlands easements were funded statewide encompassing 150,159 acres.

868new Missouri acres enrolled in ACEP-WRE

$3.9 millionto protect and restore wetlands in Missouri

150,159acres of wetland easements in Missouri

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CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM (CRP)The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a voluntary program, administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA), that assists farmers, ranchers and agricultural producers to use their environmentally sensitive land for conservation benefits. Producers enrolling in CRP establish long-term, resource-conserving cover types in exchange for rental payments, cost-share and technical assistance. Missouri NRCS staff provide technical assistance to landowners during sign-up periods and develop conservation plans for all offers that are accepted for enrollment.

There was no nationwide competitive enrollment period for FY15, however, NRCS staff developed 17 emergency grazing plans and 289 emergency haying plans for CRP contract participants. NRCS staff developed conservation plans for 850 new CRP contracts qualifying for the continuous CRP.

CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM (CSP)The Conservation Stewardship Program helps agricultural producers maintain and improve their existing conservation systems and adopt additional conservation activities to address priority resources concerns. Participants earn CSP payments for conservation performance - the higher the performance, the higher the payment.

In FY15, farmers and ranchers were able to sign new CSP contracts, and for the first time could renew existing contracts.

With this newest challenge, Missouri enrolled 118,000 new acres and renewed contracts on 589,000 acres. This brings the total of CSP acres contracted in FY15 to 707,000 acres.

acres enrolled in CSP707,000

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CONSERVATION INNOVATION GRANT (CIG) AWARD SUMMARYConservation Innovation Grants (CIG) is a voluntary program intended to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies while leveraging Federal investment in environmental enhancement and protection, in conjunction with agricultural production.

Two CIGs were awarded to the University of Missouri by Missouri NRCS in FY15.

One grant provided $49,049 for a study on animal impact on soil health. USDA funds will measure the impact on soil health from applied manures and by grazing livestock in a prescribed grazing system. The grant will also finance field days and demonstrations on private farms that include livestock and soil health parameters.

An additional $34,953 was awarded to the University of Missouri to integrate available water-holding capacity information into future versions of the University’s Crop Water Use app. Funding will also be used to educate Missouri farmers on use of the app which will promote farmer implementation of irrigation management.

84,002CIG funding in Missouri

$

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EMERGENCY WATERSHED PROTECTION (EWP)The Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program helps conserve natural resources by relieving imminent hazards to life and property caused by floods, fires, wind storms, and other natural occurrences. Work must be sponsored by a state agency, a city, county or local government. NRCS provides 75 percent of the funds for an approved project, with the public organization paying the balance.

NRCS invested $84 million through EWP to help disaster recovery efforts on more than 150 projects in 13 states. Missouri has two active EWP projects.

A Presidential disaster declaration was announced after heavy rains soaked the Midwest May 15 through July 27. Missouri received applications from 10 sponsors for EWP assistance in Camden, Christian, Cole, Dade, Laclede, Maries, McDonald, Miller, Moniteau, Morgan, Nodaway, Osage, Phelps and Wright counties. NRCS is preparing Damage Survey Reports on specific projects.

Storms of August 2013 Bank stabilization projects: 8Counties: Barry, Cedar, Dallas, McDonaldTotal cost: $1,012,000

Storms of September 2014Bank stabilization projects:4County: NodawayTotal cost: $745,000Estimated completion date: April 15, 2016

1.7million

EWP funds spent in five counties in Missouri

$

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The Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) is a nationwide collaborative process of individuals and organizations working to maintain and improve the management, productivity and health of the nation’s privately owned grazing land. The coalitions actively seek sources to increase technical assistance and public awareness activities that maintain or enhance grazing land resources.

NRCS grassland specialists and staff assisted approximately 756 landowners and partner organizations with 31 grazing schools in Missouri. The schools provide instruction to individuals about various grazing, forage utilization and fencing systems options to improve the management of all grassland resources in Missouri. NRCS grassland conservationists and staff also assisted with four regional forage conferences, with 20 field days/workshops, and with eight grassland evaluation contests.

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCENTIVES PROGRAM (EQIP)The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers to plan and implement conservation practices that improve soil, water, plant, animal, air and related natural resources on agricultural land and non-industrial private forestland. Funding is allocated based on mandates by Congress and further determined by land use data. The State Conservationist targets funding allocations based on the resource needs present each year.

A total of $25.5 million, 15 percent more than FY14, was obligated in 986 contracts on 122,000 acres. Missouri received EQIP allocations in the following categories: General ($19.1 million) and Initiatives ($6.4 million).

obligated through EQIP in FY15$25.5 million

GRAZING LANDS CONSERVATION INITIATIVE (GLCI)

GENERAL EQIPGeneral EQIP funding is allocated to the following land use and operation type applicants based on decision of the State Conservationist: Organic, Energy, High Tunnel, Animal Waste, Pasture and Hay, Cropland, Wildlife, Forestry and Conservation Innovation Grants. Funding for General EQIP increased nearly 60 percent over FY14 to $19.1 million in FY15. Sixty percent of the funds were obligated on resource concerns associated with livestock, as mandated by law. Remaining funds were divided between the remaining land use and operation type applications. Increased funding in General EQIP resulted in a majority of the pasture and hay EQIP applications being serviced, more energy practices implemented than any year prior and nearly 26 percent of all funds directed to historically under served participants.

INITIATIVES EQIPInitiatives EQIP are funds made available through certain departmental or agency projects that focus conservation dollars on specific locations, land uses and resource concerns. Usually, Initiative EQIP funding is budgeted from year-to-year based on projects submitted to and approved by the National NRCS office. In FY15, Missouri’s Initiative funding was down from FY14 due the completion of CCPI-MRBI projects. A total of $6.4 million was made available.

1,933,725 feetfence installed

1,080,354 feetterrace installed

743,210 feetunderground outlets installed

TOP THREE EQIP PRACTICES CONTRACTED IN MISSOURI IN FY15

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NATIONAL WATER QUALITY INITIATIVE (NWQI)The National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI) was introduced in 2012 as a way for NRCS to work with farmers and ranchers in small watersheds to improve water quality where there is a critical concern.

In 2015, NRCS provided $25 million in financial assistance to help farmers and ranchers across the nation implement conservation systems to reduce nitrogen, phosphorous, sediment and pathogen contributions from agricultural land. The initiative has built on a more than $85 million NRCS investment since 2012.

Missouri NRCS continued NWQI efforts in three watersheds in FY15: Upper Troublesome Creek (Knox and Lewis counties), Lower Little Medicine Creek (Grundy and Sullivan counties); and Opossum Creek North Fork Spring River (Jasper and Barton counties). Ten percent of Missouri’s $7.4 million EQIP initiative funding was dedicated to the NWQI which aided in funding conservation practices on 1,500 acres. Efforts concluded on the Lower Little Medicine and Opossum projects in FY15.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN HEALTHY WATERSHEDS INITIATIVE (MRBI)The objective of MRBI is to improve the health of the Mississippi River Basin by solving water quality concerns related to nutrient and sediment loading in local water bodies and eventually the Gulf of Mexico. Through this initiative, NRCS and its partners help producers in selected watersheds in the Mississippi River Basin voluntarily implement conservation practices and systems that avoid, control, and trap nutrient runoff; improve wildlife habitat; and maintain agricultural productivity.

In FY15, Missouri NRCS, working with Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) sponsors, closed out the initial Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative

113,400 acres

(CCPI) MRBI efforts begun in 2010. Financial and technical assistance provided through the CCPI-MRBI agreements supported 1,362 EQIP contracts totaling $40 million in MRBI funds. Encompassing nearly 150,000 acres of agricultural land, NRCS and SWCD sponsors helped address water quality within 22 project areas of the Mississippi River Basin. To date, more than $20 million has been paid out for conservation practices resulting in increased water quality and decreased movement of sediment.

Based on the successes realized by the original MRBI efforts, NRCS Chief Jason Weller committed funding for a second installment of MRBI beginning in FY15. Seven Missouri watershed projects were selected for funding through FY18 including James Bayou – St. John’s Diversion Ditch and Mud Ditch (Mississippi and New Madrid counties); Upper Buffalo Creek Ditch (Dunklin County); Bear Creek – West Yellow Creek (Linn County); Peno Creek and Spencer Creek (Ralls and Pike counties); Sugar Creek and Mission Creek – Missouri River (Buchanan and Platte counties); North River – (Marion, Ralls, Monroe and Shelby counties); Profits Creek – (Osage, Cole, Maries and Miller counties). The initial year of the second round of MRBI resulted in approximately $1 million obligated for planned conservation practices on 3,400 acres.

MRBI: EDGE OF FIELD MONITORINGMissouri received approximately $85,000 to support long-term monitoring of an MRBI project in Audrain County. The continued monitoring provides an opportunity for NRCS to measure the effects of conservation practices on water quality and sediment movement. Moving forward, NRCS Missouri anticipates expanding edge-of-field monitoring into additional counties signifying the importance of quantifying the environmental benefit that NRCS work is achieving.

affected by MRBI-planned conservation practices10

JOINT CHIEFS LANDSCAPE RESTORATION PARTNERSHIP: OZARK HIGHLANDS RESTORATION NRCS and the U.S. Forest Service began a three-year project in FY15 for the Missouri Ozark Highlands Restoration Partnership. This is the first year that Missouri has been selected as a recipient of Joint Chief’s Landscape Restoration Partnership funds. The partnership goal is to unify NRCS and U.S. Forest Service conservation priorities by broadening the reach of conservation within the Current River Watershed and other identified priority watersheds in the Ozark Highlands ecoregion. The partnership provides $1.2 million over a three-year funding period to help landowners improve the health and resiliency of forest ecosystems where Mark Twain National Forest and private lands meet in southern Missouri.

Landowners in 27 Missouri counties applied for EQIP funds for conservation practices needed to address forest related resource concerns. Sixty-six eligible applications were funded in FY15 with $500,000 obligated in financial assistance for efforts planned on 15,000 acres. Implementation of this project will reduce wildfire threats by advancing conservation practices such as forest management plans, forest stand improvement, firebreaks, prescribed burning and brush management. Implementation of practices will reduce sedimentation in surface water and improve habitat for threatened and endangered species.

15,000acres designated for

Missouri Ozark Highlands Restoration Partnership

conservation efforts.

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RESOURCE INVENTORIES: SOIL SURVEY, NRI AND CULTURAL RESOURCESResource Inventory and Assessment (RI&A) progress featured Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) offices updating the tabular and spatial data of 5.5 million acres. The information was added to the Web Soil Survey. Most soil survey update efforts focused on the Soil Data Join Recorrelation (SDJR) project, which provides a recorrelated map for the MLRA. This approach minimizes the influence of political boundaries.

Summaries of air temperature, precipitation, soil temperature and soil moisture data for six Missouri Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN) stations were updated to the NRCS Field Office Technical Guide. Two new stations were added to the network in FY15, in Centralia and Elsberry.

The RIA staff provided 2,545 Technical Soil Services (6,899 hours) and served 23,690 people.

National Resources Inventory (NRI) efforts focused on the quality assurance of the 2012 NRI estimates and on the data collection of 1,843 segments covering the 2013 growing season.

The Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) for 590 segments on the southern portion of the state was conducted.

Missouri’s Cultural Resources efforts included checking 454 projects with ground-disturbing practices to make sure they met cultural resources compliance.

73 Ecological Sites have gone to quality assurance and will be available to the public through Web Soil Survey and Ecological Site Information System (ESIS) applications. An Ecological Site Description (ESD) contains information and data pertaining to a specific site. ESDs allow land managers to identify, map and describe land with physical and biological characteristics. This helps them devise plans to manage the natural resources on their properties.

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REGIONAL CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM (RCPP)The Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) promotes coordination between NRCS and its partners to deliver conservation assistance to producers and landowners. NRCS provides financial and technical assistance through partnership agreements and program contracts. RCPP’s focus on public-private partnership enables private companies, local communities and other non-government partners a way to invest in efforts to keep land resilient and water clean, and promote economic growth in agriculture, construction, tourism and outdoor recreation, and other industries. RCPP is a five-year, $1.2 billion USDA commitment.

In the inaugural year of RCPP, Missouri led the nation with six projects selected for funding. Missouri’s six projects combine $12 million in federal funding with $30 million from state and local partners. Four of Missouri’s six funded projects led to contracts totaling approximately $1.4 million in financial assistance.

Projects funded in Missouri:

Our Missouri Waters Targeted ConservationPartner: Missouri Department of Natural ResourcesObjective: A collaborative statewide partnership approach implements geographic targeting of cost-effective farm conservation practices in identified watersheds. The primary goal is to maximize improvements in water quality and wildlife habitat. In FY15, $820,000 was provided through 31 contracts on 4,500 acres.

Little Otter Creek Watershed ProjectPartner: Caldwell County CommissionObjective: Installation of an earth embankment dam to create a 345-acre lake for the primary purpose of providing a dependable rural water supply. Project begins in FY16.

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Regional Grassland Bird and Grazing Land Enhancement InitiativePartner: Missouri Department of ConservationObjective: Create and implement unique management strategies that integrate habitat needs of grassland-dependent birds on grazing lands, maintain the tall grass prairie ecosystem, and enroll high quality grasslands into contracts. The project includes Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and 40 Missouri counties. In FY15, 576 acres of native forage establishment were contracted through EQIP.

Restoring Glade and Woodland Communities for Threatened Species in the Ozarks of Southeast MissouriPartner: Missouri Department of ConservationObjective: Manage and restore glades and woodlands and treat cropland with conservation practices that benefit threatened and declining wildlife species. $250,000 were obligated in FY15 for conservation practices on 1,537 acres.

Northwest Missouri Urban and Rural Farmers United For ConservationPartner: Jackson County SWCDObjective: Focus on water quality, water quantity, soil health, and at-risk and declining wildlife species issues that affect both rural and smaller urban farms. $124,000 were obligated including funding for eight beginning farmers and practices such as cover crop and seasonal high tunnels.

Rice Sustainability ProjectPartner: Ducks UnlimitedObjective: Support rice producers in the planning, design, and delivery of conservation practices and enhancements on working lands in six rice producing states (Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, Missouri, California, Louisiana). In Missouri, primarily water quality, water quantity and wildlife resource concerns associated with irrigation will be addressed. Nine Missouri counties in Southeast Missouri will participate in the project which begins in FY16.

United States Department of Agriculture

Natural Resources Conservation Service

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