The funds will be split between existing conservation programs under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This includes $300 million for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and $400 million for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). These funds will come from the fiscal year 2026 budgets for both programs.

USDA also plans to leverage the SUSTAINS Act to bring corporate partners and likely funds into the effort. The SUSTAINS Act allows the USDA to accept private funding to support conservation programs. While it was passed by Congress in 2023, the USDA under the Biden administration sought public input on how exactly to leverage these private funds. No companies appear to be tied to the plan yet.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said conservation efforts at the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) are currently “severely fragmented,” or simply address one part of conservation. The new regenerative agriculture initiative aims to create a unified process that emphasizes whole-farm planning, she continued. This includes finding ways to address soil, water, farm vitality and more under one system. Such planning can improve soil health, an issue often raised by the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement.