The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Virginia announced open application periods for available Regional Conservation Partnership Programs across the state to be considered for funding during Fiscal Year 2026.
The deadline to submit financial assistance applications to NRCS for the specific RCPP projects listed below is April 15, 2026. Applications should be made at the applicant’s local USDA/NRCS service center or field office. Available programs include:
• Engaging Small AFOs in the Nutrient Management Planning Process
• Increasing Landscape Resiliency in Virginia’s Top Producing Agricultural Region
• Switchgrass Cropping System Transition
The project “Engaging Small AFOs in the Nutrient Management Planning Process” will work to reduce nutrient and sediment transport from small animal feeding operations (AFOs) primarily located in the Potomac River Basin, a major tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. Sustainable Chesapeake and its partners will engage operators of small dairy and beef cattle AFOs in the development of comprehensive nutrient management plans (CNMPs). Covered counties in Virginia are Page and Rockingham, which are served by the USDA’s Harrisonburg field office, and Augusta, which is served by the Verona field office.
The Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley and supporting partners within the Shenandoah Valley Conservation Collaborative (SVCC) are leading the project “Increasing Landscape Resiliency in Virginia’s Top Producing Agricultural Region.” The project involves these partners assisting with preserving working family farms and increasing climate resiliency in the Shenandoah Valley through permanent conservation easements. This project is available to landowners in Augusta, Rockingham, Shenandoah, Frederick, Page and Warren counties.
The “Switchgrass Cropping System Transition” project will improve carbon sequestration, soil health and farm income while reducing nutrient runoff in southern Virginia by transitioning 5,000 acres of marginal row crop agriculture (all covered by expiring Conservation Reserve Program agreements) and degraded cool-season grass pastureland to a Switchgrass Cropping System. The project will engage historically underserved (HU) producers through a network of partner organizations with a target of at least 51 percent HU producer enrollment totaling more than 2,500 acres. This project is available to landowners in the following counties: Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Brunswick, Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Franklin, Greensville, Halifax, Henry, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nottoway, Pittsylvania, Prince Edward, Southampton and Sussex.
