Browse Ambrook’s collection of grants, loans, discounts, cost shares, easements, and insurance for plant health.

To get started, reach out to your local NRCS representative.

The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) helps you build on your existing conservation efforts while strengthening your operation.  Whether you are looking to improve grazing conditions, increase crop resiliency, or develop wildlife habitat, NRCS can custom design a CSP plan to help you meet those goals. NRCS can help you identify natural resource problems in your operation and provide technical and financial assistance to solve those&#x2004;problems or attain higher stewardship levels in an environmentally beneficial and cost-effective manner. For example, NRCS can look at ways to address the amount of soil lost; mitigate the impact of excess water; reduce the contribution of agricultural operations to airborne soil particles and greenhouse gas emissions; improve the cover, food, and water available for domestic and wildlife species; or promote energy efficiencies for on-farm activities. If you are already taking steps to improve the condition of the land, chances are CSP can help you find new ways to meet your goals.


**Benefits:**


CSP is for working lands. It is the largest conservation program in the United States. Thousands of people voluntarily enroll in the program because it helps them enhance natural resources and improve their business operation.


CSP participants are seeing real results.  Some of these benefits include:

- Enhanced resiliency to weather and market volatility

- Decreased need for agricultural inputs

- Improved wildlife habitat conditions



The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) helps you build on your existing conservation efforts while strengthening your operation.  Whether you are looking to improve grazing conditions, increase crop resiliency, or develop wildlife habitat, NRCS can custom design a CSP plan to help you meet those goals. NRCS can help you identify natural resource problems in your operation and provide technical and financial assistance to solve those problems or attain higher stewardship levels in an environmentally beneficial and cost-effective manner. For example, NRCS can look at ways to address the amount of soil lost; mitigate the impact of excess water; reduce the contribution of agricultural operations to airborne soil particles and greenhouse gas emissions; improve the cover, food, and water available for domestic and wildlife species; or promote energy efficiencies for on-farm activities. If you are already taking steps to improve the condition of the land, chances are CSP can help you find new ways to meet your goals.

Benefits:

CSP is for working lands. It is the largest conservation program in the United States. Thousands of people voluntarily enroll in the program because it helps them enhance natural resources and improve their business operation.

CSP participants are seeing real results.  Some of these benefits include:
- Enhanced resiliency to weather and market volatility
- Decreased need for agricultural inputs
- Improved wildlife habitat conditions

Applicants may include individuals, legal entities, joint operations, or Indian tribes that meet the stewardship threshold for at least two priority resource concerns when they apply. They must also agree to meet or exceed the stewardship threshold for at least one additional priority resource concern by the end of the contract. Producers must have effective control of the land for the term of the proposed contract. 

Payment per unit of land to do or avoid certain practices related to land management.

Easement

Corn

Cotton

Dairy

Livestock

Pigs

Poultry

Rice

Sorghum

Soybeans

Wheat

Forestry

Sweet Corn

Grain Corn

ELS Cotton

Upland Cotton

Pima Cotton

Butter

Cheese

Milk

Yogurt

Cattle

Sheep

Specialty Livestock

Barrows

Boars

Feeder Pigs

Hogs

Sows

Chickens

Cornish Hens

Ducks

Geese

Turkey

Industrial Rice

Japonica Rice

Long Grain Rice

Medium Grain Rice

Sweet Rice

Wild Rice

Durum Wheat

Hard Red Spring Wheat

Forest Residues

Timber

Cow Milk

Goat Milk

Beef Cattle

Dairy Cattle

Feeder Cattle

Slaughter Cattle

Calves

Heifers

Steers

Bulls

Ewes

Lambs

Rams

Alpacas

Beefalo

Bison

Buffalo

Caribou

Deer

Emus

Goats

Guinea Pigs

Llamas

Mink

Mohair

Ostrich

Pheasants

Quail

Rabbits

Reindeer

Water Buffalo

Broilers

Chicks

Fryers

Layers

Pullets

Roasters

Ducklings

Goslings

Poults

Toms

Beef Bottom Round

Beef Brisket

Beef Chuck Roast

Beef Eye Round

Beef Flank Steak

Beef Flat Iron Steak

Beef Heart

Beef Liver

Beef London Broil

Beef NY Strip Steak

Beef Oxtail

Beef Rib Steak

Beef Rump Roast

Beef Short Ribs

Beef Sirloin

Beef Sirloin Tip Roast

Beef Skirt Steak

Beef Soup Bones

Beef Stew Meat

Beef Tongue

Beef Top Round

Beef Whole Filet

Ground Beef

Ground Lamb

Lamb Chops

Lamb Heart

Lamb Leg

Lamb Liver

Lamb Shank

Lamb Shoulder

Lamb Stew Meat

Bison Calf

Bison Meat

Bucks

Nannies

Slaughter Goats

Row Crops

Fibers

Air Quality

High Tunnel

Landscape

Soil Health

Wildlife & Pollinator Habitat

Reduced Tillage

Biofuel

Hydro Power

Solar Power

Wind Energy

Drought

Flood

Hurricane

Tornado

Certified Organic

Certified Grassfed

Cover Crops

Conservation

Regenerative

Carbon Capture

Water Management

Certification

Disaster Relief

Infrastructure

Education

Marketing

Research

Compliance

Emergency

CSP provides two possible types of payments through five-year contracts: annual payments for installing new conservation activities and maintaining existing practices; and supplemental payments for adopting a resource-conserving crop rotation. 

To apply for this program through EQIP, work with your local NRCS office.

A High Tunnel System, commonly called a “hoop house,” is an increasingly popular conservation practice for farmers, and is available with financial assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). With high tunnel systems, no summer is too short or winter too cold because high tunnels:

- Extend the growing season

- Improve plant quality and soil quality

- Reduce nutrient and pesticide transportation

- Improve air quality&#x2004;through reduced transportation inputs

- Reduce energy use by providing consumers with a local source of fresh produce


High tunnels protect plants from severe weather and allow farmers to extend their growing seasons – growing earlier into the spring, later into the fall, and sometimes, year-round. And because high tunnels prevent direct rainfall from reaching plants, farmers can use precise tools like drip irrigation to efficiently deliver water and nutrients to plants. High tunnels also offer farmers a greater ability to control pests and can even protect plants from pollen and pesticide drift.


A number of soil health practices can be used in high tunnels, including cover crops and crop rotations, which also prevent erosion, suppress weeds, increase soil water content, and break pest cycles.


Perhaps the best thing about high tunnels is that they help farmers provide their communities with healthy local food for much of the year – food that requires less energy and transportation inputs.



A High Tunnel System, commonly called a “hoop house,” is an increasingly popular conservation practice for farmers, and is available with financial assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). With high tunnel systems, no summer is too short or winter too cold because high tunnels:
- Extend the growing season
- Improve plant quality and soil quality
- Reduce nutrient and pesticide transportation
- Improve air quality through reduced transportation inputs
- Reduce energy use by providing consumers with a local source of fresh produce

High tunnels protect plants from severe weather and allow farmers to extend their growing seasons – growing earlier into the spring, later into the fall, and sometimes, year-round. And because high tunnels prevent direct rainfall from reaching plants, farmers can use precise tools like drip irrigation to efficiently deliver water and nutrients to plants. High tunnels also offer farmers a greater ability to control pests and can even protect plants from pollen and pesticide drift.

A number of soil health practices can be used in high tunnels, including cover crops and crop rotations, which also prevent erosion, suppress weeds, increase soil water content, and break pest cycles.

Perhaps the best thing about high tunnels is that they help farmers provide their communities with healthy local food for much of the year – food that requires less energy and transportation inputs.

In addition to implementing high tunnel practices outlined with your local NRCS office, producers must meet all other eligibility requirements associated with EQIP.


A lump sum of money for a specific purpose that does not need to be paid back.

Grant

A payment that requires some percentage of matching contributions by the recipient.

Cost Share

Farmers Market

Waste & Manure Management

Weeds

Inputs

Fertilizer

Food Systems

Nutrient Management

Supporting practices may be needed to ensure that resource concerns associated with implementing and managing high tunnel systems are addressed. These conservation practices may include:
- Critical Area Planting
- Diversion Grassed Waterway
- Mulching
- Irrigation System, Micro-irrigation
- Subsurface Drain
- Surface Drainage, Field Ditch
- Underground Outlet


To initiate the application process, complete the Services Enrollment Form. If you need a paper enrollment form mailed to you, contact the program administrator at the details above.

The Kahiau Rural Business Development Microloan Program provides low-interest loans and technical assistance to eligible businesses. The Kahiau Foundation created the loan fund in order to support businesses that contribute to strengthening Hawaiian culture, building community, and enhancing the health of the natural environment. These values govern every aspect of the Program, from the eligibility requirements to the technical assistance provided to borrowers, before and after the loan is made.



To be eligible, a business must meet all of the following three criteria:
1. Be a new or existing business on Hawai‘i Island or Moloka‘i,
2. The owner/operator of the business is Native Hawaiian or kama‘āina (an individual born and raised in Hawai‘i), and
3. The business in some way reflects at least one of the program’s three overarching values—strengthening Hawaiian culture, building community, and enhancing the health of the natural environment.

A payment that must be returned to the provider following specified terms of repayment and interest rate.

Loan

Nutrition & Food Safety

Socially Disadvantaged

People Of Color

Legal & Finance

Historically Underserved

Loan Details
Applicants may apply for loans between $2,000 and $15,000. The interest rate is fixed at 2%. Loan proceeds may be used to pay for supplies, equipment, labor costs, construction costs, and other expenses that will contribute to business viability and growth.
Technical Assistance
Technical assistance and education are key elements of the Program. Pre-loan technical assistance may include assistance with the loan application process, financial recordkeeping, credit issues, and business planning. Ongoing technical assistance is available to borrowers on a monthly basis throughout the term of the loan, including help with preparing quarterly financial statements. The Program incorporates community building into the technical assistance component by helping businesses develop a business team and a network of peers, mentors, and advisors. And the Program itself is a community—a community of past, present, and future borrowers who maintain the loan fund for each other’s mutual benefit.

To apply, contact your local USDA service center. 

Applications must be submitted either the later of 60 calendar days after (date of publication in FR) or within 90 calendar days of:
- the disaster event; or
- the date when the loss is apparent to the producer.

The Tree Assistance Program (TAP) provides financial assistance to eligible orchardists and nursery tree growers to replant or rehabilitate eligible trees, bushes, and vines lost by natural disasters. TAP is administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).




Eligible Tree Types

Eligible trees, bushes, and vines are those from which an annual crop is produced for commercial purposes. Nursery trees include ornamental, fruit, nut and Christmas trees produced for commercial sale. Trees used for pulp or timber are not eligible for TAP assistance.

Eligible Losses

To be considered an eligible loss:
- A requisite death loss must first be sustained; a stand of eligible trees, bushes, or vines must have suffered more than a 15 percent mortality loss (after normal mortality) due to a natural disaster;
- Mortality loss on a stand of eligible trees, bushes, or vines is based on:
- Each eligible disaster event, except for losses due to plant disease; and
- For plant disease, the time period as determined by the FSA for which the stand is infected.
- The loss must not have been preventable through reasonable and available measures;
- The loss must be visible and obvious to the FSA representative; if the loss is no longer visible, FSA may accept other loss evidence and determine whether that other evidence substantiates that an eligible loss due to natural disaster occurred; and
- FSA may require information from a qualified expert to determine extent of loss in the case of plant disease or insect infestation.

Eligible Orchardists and Nursery Tree Growers

To qualify for TAP, eligible orchardists and nursery tree growers must:
- Have suffered a qualifying tree, bush or vine loss in excess of 15 percent mortality for the stand (adjusted for normal mortality) due to an eligible natural disaster;
- Have owned the eligible trees, bushes and vines when the natural disaster occurred, but eligible growers are not required to own the land on which owned eligible trees, bushes and vines are planted; and
- Replace eligible trees, bushes and vines within 12 months from the date the TAP application is approved.

Nursery Trees

Fruit Trees

Nut Trees

Nursery Crops

- Fact Sheet
- Florida Citrus Greening Fact Sheet
- Final Rule (April 14, 2014)

Coronavirus

Fencing

Trade Relief

Trees

Wildfire

Acreage Limitation
The cumulative total quantity of acres planted to trees, bushes, or vines for which an eligible orchardist or nursery tree grower can receive TAP payments cannot exceed 1,000 acres annually.

Payment Limitation and Average Adjusted Gross Income (AGI)
For losses that occurred on or after January 1, 2017, there is no payment limitation for TAP.
In applying the limitation on average adjusted gross income (AGI), a person or legal entity is ineligible for payment under TAP if the AGI of the person or legal entity for the relevant tax years exceeds $900,000. Direct attribution applies to TAP and is used for AGI purposes as well. Under direct attribution, any payment to a legal entity will be considered (for payment limitation purposes) to be a payment to persons or legal entities with an interest in the legal entity or in a sub-entity.

List of Agricultural Funding for Plant Health