USDA survey to assess effects of conservation practice
The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service, in partnership with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, is reaching out to farmers, ranchers and agricultural landowners to gather in-depth information about the conservation practices they use.
Nearly 23,000 operators nationwide will receive the 2025 Conservation Effects Assessment Project survey. Data obtained will support the third set of national and regional cropland assessments delivered by USDA’s Conservation Effects Assessment Project, a multi-agency effort led by NRCS to quantify the effects of conservation practices across the nation’s working lands.
“Responding to the survey gives farmers the opportunity to provide the most accurate picture of conservation practices on their cropland,” said Joseph Parsons, NASS administrator. “Information from CEAP – which is made stronger by robust survey response – will help inform programs that benefit producers by protecting the natural resources on which their livelihoods depend.”
Local NASS representatives will visit farmers and agricultural landowners in August and September of 2025 to determine if their operations and properties meet the criteria to be considered eligible candidates for the survey. Eligible farmers and landowners may be contacted between November 2025 and March 2026 and asked to participate in the survey. Typical questions will discuss farm production practices; chemical, fertilizer, and manure applications; tillage; irrigation use; and installed conservation practices. NASS will provide survey data to NRCS, the agency tasked with publishing findings.
CEAP Cropland Assessments quantify the environmental outcomes associated with implementation and installation of conservation practices on agricultural lands. Findings are used to guide conservation program development and support agricultural producers and partners in making informed management decisions backed by data and science.
Specifically, CEAP results may help: Evaluate the resources farmers may need in the future to protect soil, water, and habitat; shed light on techniques farmers use to conserve healthy environments; improve and strengthen technical and financial programs that help landowners plan and install conservation practices on agricultural land; and support the conservation programs that can help producers’ profits while also protecting natural resources.
NRCS will couple survey results with modeling to report on trends in cropland conservation – and associated outcomes – from 2024 through 2026.
Information provided to NASS and analyzed by NRCS is kept confidential, as required by federal law. The agencies only publish data in aggregate form, ensuring that no individual respondent or operation can be identified.
The data from this survey will be published as a report on the CEAP Cropland Assessments webpage at nrcs.usda.gov/ceap/croplands.
