Local Work Group (LWG)

Yesterday we hosted our 2019 Local Work Group session at the Sedgwick County Extension Education Center. The following LWG description is taken from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) website:
"Local working groups provide recommendations on local natural resource priorities and criteria for USDA conservation activities and programs. Convened by the local conservation district, the local working group responsibilities include:

• Develop a conservation needs assessment identifying broad conservation goals to solve natural resource problems
• Identify priority resource concerns that can be addressed by USDA programs
• Recommend USDA conservation program application and funding criteria, eligible practices (including limits on practice payments or units), and payment rates
• Assist the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the conservation district with public outreach and information efforts;
• Identify educational and producers' training needs
• Recommend program policy to the State Technical Committee based on resource data

Local working group membership should be diverse and focus on agricultural interests and natural resource issues existing in the local community."

The LWG is a key venue for conservation stakeholders to have their voices heard. Yesterday it was powerful to have representatives from NRCS, conservation districts, Farm Service Agency (FSA), Extension, and area farms gather together to discuss local conservation concerns. We explored practical solutions to obstacles facing producers as they seek to implement conservation practices on their land.