Conservation Stewardship Program

The Department of Agriculture National Resources Conservation Service funds technical assistance and conservation implementation on agricultural and natural resource lands through Assistance Listing 10.924, with the most recent grant award made on January 16, 2026. Activity in this program has declined sharply: awards dropped from 23 per year in 2022 to just 2 in 2026 (through mid-October), signaling a marked slowdown in current funding appetite despite the program's 16-year operational history since 2010.

The program funds predominantly technical assistance and partnership agreements that support NRCS conservation delivery. Recent awards reflect two distinct activity streams: direct technical capacity-building through the Agricultural Conservation Experienced Services (ACES) program, which recruits individuals age 55 and older to provide conservation planning and implementation support to private landowners; and broader conservation partnership arrangements that enhance NRCS program delivery across states. Representative funded activities include the Minnesota ACES agreement ($1.73 million, awarded January 2026) to acquire experienced conservation expertise for technical services statewide; American Bird Conservancy's delivery of enhanced technical services for conservation program implementation in Michigan ($325 thousand, September 2024); peer-to-peer farmer networks in Kansas covering 30 management units and targeting 30,000-acre enrollment ($351 thousand, September 2024); and regenerative organic practice adoption in South Dakota's agricultural landscapes ($386 thousand, September 2024). A $59.1 million national conservation partnership agreement (September 2023) demonstrates the program's capacity for large multi-year infrastructure awards funding technical assistance delivery nationwide.

Awards are structured almost exclusively as Cooperative Agreements (90 percent, 293 awards) with a small Project Grant component (10 percent, 31 awards). NRCS is the sole funder across all 324 awards tracked, with combined federal obligations of $204 million and total combined federal and non-federal share of $210.4 million. Award magnitudes range widely from under $100 thousand to the $59.1 million ceiling, with most individual agreements falling between $300 thousand and $2 million for multi-year terms.

No grant opportunities currently appear open to the public. The most recent posted solicitation was the ACES Program (USDA-NRCS-NHQ-ACES-24-NOFO0001365, due February 13, 2025), which solicits 501(c)(3) nonprofits to recruit experienced conservation practitioners age 55 and older; however, this NOFO explicitly notes no funding is available at the time of posting, though approved applicants become eligible for future state-level funding agreements. Earlier opportunities from 2024 and prior years focused on state-level technical assistance and conservation collaboration across multiple eligible applicant categories including governments, nonprofits, and higher education institutions. Given the low award count in 2025–2026, organizations should monitor NRCS state offices for new state or regional partnership solicitations rather than expect a national NOFO in the near term.