Report: Innovative State-Led Financing Advances Agricultural Conservation

States that embrace innovative new ways to finance on-farm conservation can deliver multiple benefits to farmers, state residents, taxpayers, and the environment, according to a new report released today at the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) Annual Meeting by NASDA and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

The report, Innovative state-led efforts to finance agricultural conservation, highlights state-level programs that use nontraditional financing mechanisms, including crop insurance discounts and transferable tax credits, to incentivize conservation adoption.

Recent Duke University graduates John Feldmann and Vincent Gauthier were co-authors on the report as part of their master’s thesis, which was advised by Lydia Olander, director of the Ecosystem Services Program at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, and Randall Kramer, professor at the Nicholas School of the Environment.