Online directory eases search for conservation funding

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Weeding through the alphabet soup of conservation funding opportunities — both known and unknown — is time-consuming and perhaps frustrating.

The Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership rolled out a new one-stop-shop tool that peels away the layers to find a conservation funding program that fits a specific area and farm in the Prairie State.

ISAP’s Financial Incentives Database tool provides a database of over 60 programs based on specific counties, crops and payment opportunities for numerous conservation practices.

By listing the program information side-by-side, the FIND tool allows farmers to compare programs and select options that are best for their operation.

“ISAP had been hearing from farmers, from conservation professionals, from many people that there’s so many programs, it’d be so nice to find all of that information in one place to understand and evaluate,” said Jean Brokish, American Farmland Trust Midwest deputy director.

“So, ISAP put together a directory of various programs that provide cost share for farmers.

“You answer a few questions of what county you’re in, what you’re production system is, and what practices you might be interested in. Then on the back end we have all of those programs tagged and assigned to different buckets. It would give you a report of what programs would fit your goals and your criteria.”

For example, if a farmer is looking at cover crops, there may be 28 programs listed. The search for programs can then be further refined.

“The programs are all tagged, whether they are government programs, private programs, whether they claim carbon assets, whether they are climate-smart commodity programs, etc. So, you can drill down a little bit more to learn more about the individual programs, what practices they cover. It has contract information, contract links, payment information,” Brokish noted.

“It includes Regional Conservation Partnership Programs that tend to be more watershed or county specific. It also includes state programs like Partners for Conservation. It includes all of the National Resources Conservation Service programs, as well as Farm Service Agency like Conservation Reserve Program. It also has more of the national programs that came out through the Climate Smart Commodities.

“If you cast a big net, you’re going to get a lot of programs, but that’s where it also allows you to focus in a little bit more specifically and do a side-by-side comparison of some of the programs.

“Ultimately, we’re not advising or telling farmers which program. This is really just a tool to help them see what might be a good fit. Each program page has a website link that takes you directly to that program for specific details.”

The program officially kicked off July 12, and details were released at the Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts annual meeting and summer training conference July 15.

“We’ll also be doing other outreach and looking forward to feedback from farmers who are using it. So, if somebody knows of a program that we don’t have, or the programs are consistently changing and evolving, we want to make sure it’s dynamic and updated and getting some feedback from the users,” Brokish said.

The program was initiated by ISAP with funding from the Illinois Soybean Association to create it.

The American Farmland Trust staff and The Nature Conservancy provided the leadership for building the tool.

“It’s really kind of an evolution. ISAP is really trying to create useful, practical tools for farmers to access information and access all of these programs,” Brokish added.

“From a farmer’s perspective, now is a great time to start thinking about conservation and accessing that financial resources that can bridge that gap and kind of mitigate the risk involved with it.”

To search the database and find what financial programs are available, go to ilsustainableag.org/findtool.