IATP has been analyzing farmer participation in two of the United States’ most popular conservation programs since 2021. In our latest analysis, we find that in fiscal year 2025 (FY2025), approximately 24% of applicants to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and 37% of applicants to the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) were awarded contracts.[1] This is a sharp dropoff from FY2024 in which approximately 43% of applicants to EQIP and 54% of applicants to CSP were awarded contracts,[2] and is similar to acceptance rates seen before the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). This national dropoff in applications accepted is mirrored in most U.S. states and territories.

Between fiscal years 2024 and 2025, the number of EQIP contracts awarded in the U.S. decreased by approximately 17,650 and the number of CSP contracts awarded decreased by around 2,877.[3] This is a 38% and 21% decrease, respectively. Not a single state saw an increase in EQIP contracts awarded from FY2024 to FY2025, and only eight states saw an increase for CSP contracts.

This all occurred as a higher number of farmers applied to both programs from one year to the next. FY2025 saw 29,353 applicants to CSP and 118,377 applicants to EQIP, up from 25,719 (14% increase) and 106,794 (11% increase) respectively the year before.[4]