A new poll shows Arkansas farmers and ranchers believe they benefit from voluntary conservation programs from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Arkansas has 15 counties identified as priority conservation areas focusing on saving 7 million acres using prescribed burning and prescribed grazing.
Aviva Glaser - the senior director of agriculture policy with the National Wildlife Federation, which released the poll - said many producers want to see an expansion of services.
"One of the interesting findings out of this was that not only was there strong support for this funding in general, but there was very strong support for increasing this funding," said Glaser. "Seventy-five percent of farmers said that they wanted to see an increase in long-term funding."
Prescribed burning is one of the top conservation practices in Arkansas, along with pest and nutrient management, and the use of cover crops.
Almost 70% of those polled say designating funding specifically to help farmers adopt climate-smart agriculture practices is a good use of federal funds.
Glaser said the Federation has also created a mapping tool that shows how much federal funding each state has received and outlines how farmers and ranchers are using the money.
"That could be a range of different practices," said Glaser. "Practices like cover crops or grazing management, or it could be a conservation easement. It could be putting in a buffer strip."
More than eight in 10 producers in the poll say they support passage of the Farm Bill. The legislation is supposed to be renewed every five years, but the last full Farm Bill was passed in 2018.