Ninety years ago, on April 27, 1935, the National Resources Conservation Service was established with the signing of the Soil Conservation Act amidst the Dust Bowl. In 2025, leaders of NRCS, sung its praises during a celebration at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Whitten Building in Washington, D.C.
NRCS Chief Aubrey J.D. Bettencourt, NRCS Associate Chief Louis Aspey, NRCS Chief of Staff Colton Buckley and NRCS Historian Shelby Callaway, all shared their thoughts during the April 25 event. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins shared her sentiments via video.
Rollins said she’s honored to work with conservation minded farmers.
“NRCS plays such an important role in serving our agriculture producers, and as President Trump has said, for centuries, American farmers and ranchers have been the lifeblood of the American economy,” she said. “At NRCS, we are putting farmers first, from conservation planning to the financial assistance that helps producers put conservation practices to work.”
Voluntary conservation is not new, and the generations-old practices have greatly benefited American agriculture and natural resources.
“NRCS was born in a time of despair and uncertainty during the Dust Bowl,” Rollins said. “Through conservation, farmers were able to confirm and overcome those challenges, just as they continue to do.”
Farmers first
As a historian by training, Bettencourt was excited to dive into the history of NCRS, and it amazed her at what has been accomplished in 90 years.
As a NRCS customer first, she helped her father with a restoration project for the Pacific Flyway in California.
“The level of agility and partnership that we have on the ground and that in that local connection is truly part of our strength, and one that is a tenet of who we are as an agency and what we can accomplish together,” she said. “As I continue to meet more of the staff and learn more about NRCS and how we put our farmer first, it’s very clear that our agency’s work has been rooted in in solutions, and more importantly, my favorite solution, which is the farmer.”
Bettencourt loves to see when a farmer looks for a solution to a problem.
“And there is nothing more striking than the accomplishments of 90 years working with the farmer that we have made here in the United States, that we all should be proud of as not just farmers and not just USDA and not just NRCS, but as a people, as an American people,” she said.
Collaboration and innovation
Time tested conservation methods and core principles of NRCS helps producers, according to Bettencourt.
“The key to helping producers is still this personalized technical assistance that we provide to them by working the fields together, sitting around those kitchen tables and meeting in machine sheds or in poultry sheds,” she said.
With the financial resources of NRCS, the dollars give real results on the ground.
“We’ve always recognized the need to provide farmers and ranchers and economic cushion when trying new conservation practices, innovating out on the landscape, and we share that risk with them with these financial assistance programs that we provide,” she said. “It’s also about the idea, which I love, which is the dollar out on the landscape does a heck of a lot more than $1 sitting in places like DC.”
Bettencourt said she has a “Robin Hood” mentality.
“When it comes to that I want to see those dollars out on the landscape multiplying and doing what they need to do,” she said.
Science based conservation practices are a core principle of NRCS is and what it does.
“Of course, farmers and ranchers depend on the conservation practices that we recommend, and they depend on them working and delivering for them, that the outcomes pay off and that they come as they are expected,” she said. “There’s not a lot we control in agriculture, so when we have good technical assistance that can help us know what to expect, we can make better plans, and we can account for the things that we can’t control.”
Starts at local level
Locally driven priorities are also important, and Bettencourt said for nine decades NRCS has worked closely with local soil and water conservation districts that partner with them at the county level to support farmers and ranchers.
“We will continue to build on this close relationship and this reliance on local knowledge,” she said. “Those closest to the problem are closest to the solution, and that is such a core part of the NRCS identity and what we are and what we do, and making sure that we have the flexibility to leverage those local voices and to make ourselves better as well, and make sure that those services can pivot and work out on the landscape.”
Most importantly NRCS measures are a voluntary effort, which has made the landscape more whole.
“It has never been a requirement to work with NRCS, and that has been one of its greatest strengths, because the results that we’ve created from this voluntary effort really is what has made American agriculture the best in the world,” Bettencourt said. “And I would love to see more of what that looks like going forward.”
Bettencourt is excited about moving forward, building a legacy, continuing the NRCS first principles into a new century.
“Farmer first, because it’s at the heart of every aspect of NRCS’ mission, operations and our technology, every decision and tool and process must answer, how does this make the life easier, more profitable and more rewarding for the farmer?” she said. “It starts with NRCS in the field and away from the filing cabinet, making sure that our folks out in the field have what they need to be able to do that, to be able to meet the farmer where they’re at.”
That starts by simplifying access to programs, streamlining applications and processes for a timely, responsive and reliable NRCS. She hopes that by reimagining partnerships time can be maximized, dollars are leveraged and improving success across the landscape. NRCS needs to be an outcomes-based entity, Bettencourt said.
Results need to be measured in more than dollars and acres, but in terms of achievable goals and objectives, she said. “And then we give credit where credit is due, giving the farmer the credit in the regulatory and market space for the voluntary work that they’re doing.”
She wants farmers to be able to take their work to the bank, while continuing to be able to innovate and NRCS evolve with them along the way.
“It’s this legacy that’s been carried forward by so many talented groups and past SES (senior executive service) and NRCS chiefs,” she said.
For more information about NRCS and its programs visit www.nrcs.usda.gov.
Kylene Scott can be reached at 620-227-1804 or [email protected].
