4 pages, This article introduces the Regional Conservation Partnership Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service. The program encourages partnerships among Extension professionals, conservation agency representatives, and farmers that focus on addressing natural resources concerns through the development and implementation of regional watershed plans. These plans assist farmers in practicing sustainable crop and animal production methods. Extension professionals will find the program useful as a tool for building collaborations at watershed and regional scales to promote agricultural production practices that enhance natural resources conservation.
13pgs, The Extension Service is one of many agencies charged with increasing awareness and knowledge of research-based agricultural conservation practices. A regional survey of Extension agents with agriculture and natural resources responsibilities was conducted to assess the need for in-service training on 11 water resource conservation topics. The highest priority training needs were for topics related to complex interactions and drivers of agricultural water pollution. This article highlights the implications of these results and offers broader perspective on bringing the Borich model of needs assessment into the agricultural and natural resources realm of subject matter expertise.