"The Dust Bowl led to the creation of what is now called the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Just as it celebrates a major milestone, the agency is dealing with job losses, massive proposed budget cuts and talk of consolidation." #NRCS (h/t Tom Gill)

https://www.kosu.org/2025-05-12/nrcs-90-years-old-future-uncertain

USDA:NRCS:Geospatial Data Gateway:Home

@ai6yr looking at snotel data from #NRCS, the whole basin has >150% of the median of snow water equivalent for the last decade, most of which was deposited during storms in mid-March. Already saturated ground in a basin plus historic snow loading =bad time for a town built in the bottom of the basin.

US Department of Agriculture (#USDA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (#NRCS), Farm Service Agency (#FSA), Forest Service (#USFS)

Mass Federal Firings Hit Agriculture Agencies - Farm Policy News

https://farmpolicynews.illinois.edu/2025/02/mass-federal-firings-hit-agriculture-agencies/

Mass Federal Firings Hit Agriculture Agencies - Farm Policy News

The Trump administration’s mass firings have swept out workers across USDA, including at the FSA and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Farm Policy News
Gridded National Soil Survey Geographic Database (gNATSGO) | Natural Resources Conservation Service

The gridded National Soil Survey Geographic Database (gNATSGO) is a USDA-NRCS Soil & Plant Science Division (SPSD) composite database that provides complete coverage of the best available soils information for all areas of the United States and Island Territories. 

Natural Resources Conservation Service
Presenters from Lincoln University, #NRCS, Syngenta, and other experts on #soilhealth will all speak at this Saturday's annual meeting of the #Missouri #FarmersUnion in Columbia.
https://www.centralmoinfo.com/missouri-farmers-union-to-focus-on-soil-health-at-saturdays-annual-meeting/
The #Southwest continues to grapple with a record-setting winter according to latest from #USDA #NRCS. While healthy #snowpack doesn't translate directly into #drought relief (a lot depends on the #weather in the coming weeks), it certainly helps! Snow water equivalent recently hit all-time highs in #Utah and in California's southern and central Sierra. The northern Sierra, meanwhile, is close to the 1982-83 record.
The latest #snowpack map from #USDA #NRCS continues to bring good news, with most basins, including the #ColoradoRiver, at or above the long-term median. But, as always, the story is a little more complicated than that. Heavy snow in CA can lead to devastating #flooding. The CO #watersheds draining into the Arkansas, White, and Red Rivers are still dry. And #drought conditions have persisted in the #pnw where soil moisture, streamflow, and reservoir levels remain low despite a healthy snowpack.

As we approach the official start of spring, #snowpack across the #West continues to look strong, according to the #USDA #NRCS. Much of California, Nevada, and Utah are sitting around 200% of normal for this time of year. Most of the Northwest is right at the long-term median.

#drought #winter #CAwx #UTwx #NVwx #pnw #science #climate

Field trip to the #USDA #NRCS #tucson plant materials center to learn about how #native #seed enters the market via hard working civil servants!