Missouri State Technical Committee
Per section 1446 of the 1990 Farm Bill, the Missouri USDA established a State Technical Committee to provide advice for technical considerations and technical guidelines necessary to implement conservation provisions of USDA legislation. The NRCS State Conservationist chairs the committee.
What is the State Technical Committee?
The Food Security Act of 1985, as amended, authorizes the State Technical Committee to provide recommendations for establishing technical guidelines and program criteria and priorities necessary to carry out conservation provisions of the Farm Bill. The committee also helps assure that civil rights requirements in program delivery are met.
Additionally, the State Technical Committee provides recommendations on a number of issues within a variety of conservation programs. Although the State Technical Committee has no implementation or enforcement authority, USDA gives strong consideration to the committee's recommendations.
We appreciate your involvement in the State Technical Committee and look forward to your input on NRCS priorities, technical material and program delivery. If you have any questions, please contact Assistant State Conservationist for Partnerships Nate Goodrich at 573-876-9403.
Roles and Responsibilities
The State Technical Committee may advise the NRCS state conservationist on many issues. Examples include:
- State program management policies and procedures
- State program management policies and procedures Technical programmatic recommendations
- Statewide public information and outreach campaigns
- Identifying significant statewide natural resource concerns
- Guidelines for developing ranking criteria for evaluating applications.
- Guidance on eligible conservation practices
- Technical guidance on conservation practices, including new, innovative practices.
- Cost-share rates and incentive payment limits and methods of payment
- Identifying, monitoring, and analyzing performance indicators
- Evaluating and reporting program impacts on natural resources and the environment
- Coordinating with other federal, state, tribal, and local public and private activities
Who are the Committee Members?
The Missouri State Conservationist is the committee chair.
In addition, the state conservationist will ensure equal representation of interests, seriously consider the committee’s technical advice, and call and provide notice of public meetings when necessary.
Invitation to participate will be made by the state conservationist in order to assure a balance of representation of the many resource and conservation issues.
Meetings
The Missouri State Technical Committee meetings are held on an as-needed basis, usually twice per year in person, and additional meetings are held virtually. All meetings are open to the public. Prior to these meetings, various subcommittees representing members of the committee may meet to finalize recommendations to be made to the committee.
The next State Technical Committee meeting will be held at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, May 7th, 2024 at the NRCS State Office USDA Training Room, 601 Business Loop 70 W Columbia, Missouri 65203. View the agenda below.