WASHINGTON (DTN) -- USDA is putting another $300 million into its Regenerative Pilot Program (RPP) in fiscal year 2027, bringing total funding for the program to $1 billion as the agency expands a conservation initiative focused on soil health and whole-farm regenerative practices.

The program operates through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), allowing producers to compete for conservation funding under a separate set of regenerative agriculture standards.

The additional funding does not increase overall conservation funding. Instead, the RPP is a set-aside of mandatory EQIP and CSP funding, directing more existing conservation dollars toward regenerative agriculture practices.

Last fiscal year, NRCS obligated more than 5,100 contracts totaling more than $851 million to implement whole-farm conservation practices for regenerative agriculture, said Colton Buckley, USDA's chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

"Through this program, farmers and ranchers continue to make improvements to soil health, water management and natural vitality, and provide consumers with American-grown whole foods," Buckley said. "We are building on this success by improving flexibility without sacrificing outcomes and strengthening delivery and accountability."

Richard Fordyce, USDA's undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC), said last week at an outlook conference in Kansas City, Missouri, that the regenerative agricultural program drew strong demand from farmers, as well as a lot of interest from commodity buyers focused on issues such as the carbon intensity of food ingredients. He noted that demand from farmers was significantly higher than the funds set aside last year.

"We feel like the Regenerative Pilot Program, which was way, way oversubscribed over the dollars that we earmarked, is an important way to go," Fordyce said. "It's certainly not how we're going to spend all of the conservation cost-share money, but it's an important thing that we're trying to get done."

USDA stated the pilot program will dedicate $650 million for EQIP and $350 million through CSP to fund the regenerative agricultural projects. Farmers can bundle practices into one application to streamline the process.

THE MAHA DEBATE OVER REGEN AG AND FARM BILL

"We applaud Secretary Rollins and USDA for this investment in America's farmers," said Rebecca Bartels, executive director of Invest in Our Land. "When USDA says farmers 'have spoken,' it is recognizing what we hear every day: producers want these tools."

The announcement comes after Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) supporters objected to and rallied against the Senate farm bill proposal just weeks ago because the bill would temporarily reduce funding for EQIP.

"Interesting that Sec. Rollins is fine with this Farm Bill when it defunds her Regen Ag pilot, which is the main achievement of her time as Secretary," Kelly Ryerson, a leader in the MAHA movement posted on X after Rollins voiced support for the farm bill.

The additional $300 million could be another step to calm, collect and push MAHA voters to the polls. Just last week, HHS and USDA announced additional research into potential human health effects of glyphosate -- a MAHA campaign action.

See, "EPA, HHS Partner on Glyphosate Study," https://www.dtnpf.com/….

This program puts agriculture conservation, sustainability and MAHA supporters in the same circle: opposition to changes that would reduce farm conservation participation.

"USDA is building on EQIP at the same moment the Farm Bill would shrink it," Invest in Our Land said in their statement.

The Senate farm bill would still cut EQIP by nearly $2 billion below the levels Congress set just last year, potentially leaving more than 56,500 valid farmer applications unfunded.

DTN reported this summer on the committee's direct response to criticism that the oversubscribed program would leave interested farmers without funding.

See, "Senate Farm Bill Would Cut $1.9 Billion From EQIP, Fund New Forest and State Conservation Programs," https://www.dtnpf.com/….

In the House, Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Pa., also firmly rejected claims that the House-passed farm bill, which would reduce EQIP funding by $1 billion in the beginning, while increasing the baseline in 2031, is considered a cut conservation funding.

Alongside the pilot program, Thompson also has a vested interest in his Sponsoring USDA Sustainability Targets in Agriculture to Incentivize Natural Solutions (SUSTAINS) Act, which would expand public-private partnerships dollars for conservation.

"I do believe SUSTAINS is really going to be the icing on the cake with the other investments that we've made into conservation public private partnership," he said during a House Agriculture Committee hearing in June.

The SUSTAINS Act, like the Senate version called the State Conservation Assistance Program, would bring in public-private partnerships while federal conservation funding declines under a proposal led by Republicans.

One source who lobbies conservation on the Hill that spoke with DTN said they don't expect the Senate to reopen the farm bill for debate. Instead, a conferenced farm bill package to be included in an omnibus package of seven other spending bills before or around the Dec. 11 deadline.

Applications for the regenerative agriculture program vary by state. About 75% of state applications will be open for the next 6 months. Check with your local NRCS office for specific details.

DTN Farm Business Editor Chris Clayton contributed to this report.

Jake Zajkowski can be reached at jake.zajkowski@dtn.com

Follow him on social platform X @jzajkow

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