**Implementing the Farm Bill**

## **Farm Bill programs can be implemented by using structural (vegetative and engineering) or management conservation practices. Plants make conservation happen. And plants can help you implement the 2008 Farm Bill.** 

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No matter which Farm Bill program you are working with, you will most
likely utilize vegetative and management practices to accomplish some of
your customers' conservation goals. Your Plant Materials Specialist and
Plant Materials Center staff can provide recommendations and assistance
with:

-   **Conservation plants** that are performance tested in specific
    growing environments to solve various conservation problems;

-   **Applied technology** developed for successful plant establishment
    and management of seeding mixtures; and

-   **On-site technical assistance** to field offices, partners,
    farmers, and ranchers.

**Conservation Plants**

More than 75 percent of the grasses, forbs, shrubs and trees listed in
the Field Office Technical Guide (FOTG) are Plant Materials Program
(PMP) releases. Plant Materials Program studies have produced over 65
percent of the plant management information used by NRCS. Your Plant
Materials staff is available to assist NRCS field offices with species
recommendations and planting technology for all the programs in the Farm
Bill including:

-   ***Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)***- Practices addressing
    erosion control on range and pasture lands, development of wildlife
    habitat, restoring native plant communities, and revegetating
    disturbed areas. Adapted native species such as bluebunch
    wheatgrass, big bluegrass, big bluestem, Indiangrass, and prairie
    flax. Effective seed mixes, planting times, and seedbed preparation
    techniques are found in the FOTG.

-   ***Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP)***- Plants and technology for
    restoring or enhancing wetland and riparian areas. Adaptive native
    species include willows, sedges, creeping spike rush, and alkali
    bulrush. The PMP has developed countless technologies that are
    adapted to specific ecological regions of the country, including
    soil bioengineering techniques in wet and dry areas and containers
    designed for transplanting in arid regions.

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-   ***Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)***- This includes
    plant materials and technology for practices that address animal
    waste treatment, nutrient uptake, odor control, windbreaks, living
    snow fences, pollinators, invasive species suppression, and plant
    diversity. Improved species include switchgrass, Indiangrass,
    creeping foxtail, and tall wheatgrass for use in nutrient uptake;
    hybrid poplars, green ash, dogwoods and willows for odor control and
    windbreaks; Rocky Mountain juniper and purpleosier willows and other
    small trees for living snow fences; and western yarrow, coneflower,
    and sunflowers for pollinators.

-   ***Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP)***- Plants and
    technology for practices that address pollinators, revegetation
    after removal of invasive species, plants to improve wildlife
    habitat, and plants to provide food and shelter for the species of
    concern. Adapted plant species include western yarrow, purple
    prairieclover, black-eyed susan, coneflower, silverberry,
    sunflowers, switchgrass, basin wildrye, lupines, and lespedeza.

-   ***Biomass Research*** -- Research continues on the development of
    cultural practices that will result in high quality and higher
    yields of biomass. Species being evaluated include switchgrass, big
    bluestem, indiangrass, giant miscanthus, and tall wheatgrass.

-   ***Chesapeake Bay Program*** -- Plants and technology for a new
    program to implement vegetative measures on agricultural lands in
    the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

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*Fourwing saltbush* is used for restoration in the southwest, providing
food and habitat for wildlife and livestock.

**Technical Assistance** Your Plant Materials staff provides new
technology and one-on-one technical assistance including:

-   Recommendations for enhancing ecological diversity, stabilizing
    streambanks, revegetating wetlands, implementing odor control,
    establishing buffers, and improving range and pastureland quality.

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'*Shelter*' switchgrass provides cover in the snow

-   Advice on cultural practices, such as seedbed preparation, seed
    placement, seedling establishment and stand management, etc.

-   On-site technical assistance with land managers, and field tours and
    training sessions for field office and conservation district staff
    partners, farmers and ranchers, Tribes, limited resource producers,
    and other land managers.

-   Demonstration plantings and cooperative research projects to help
    local land managers find solutions for specific conservation
    problems.

-   Coordination of seed production with commercial growers to assure
    seed of adapted conservation plants is available to the public.

-   Reference materials, such as brochures, plant guides, technical
    guides, newsletters and technical articles are available to the
    public and NRCS personnel on the Plant Materials website at

http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov.