Nebraska producers have funding available to help address the spread of invasive woody vegetation on rangeland. Landowners should apply at their local NRCS field office by Feb. 17, 2023, for funding to adopt management practices that help treat the spread of Eastern redcedar trees and other invasive woody vegetation on rangeland.

NRCS is targeting funding to address this natural resources concern through it Nebraska Great Plains Grassland Initiative (GPGI). The initiative is part of the NRCS Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) framework to conserve grassland regions in the Great Plains.

Management practices eligible for financial assistance through the GPGI include brush management, prescribed grazing, grazing deferment, prescribed burning, and more. NCRS is focusing this funding on farms and ranches in the Sandhills, Loess Canyons, southwest mixed-grass prairies, and Verdigris-Bazile creek watershed (see map).

According to NRCS, nearly eight million acres of Nebraska’s most intact grasslands are estimated to be at risk to future woody encroachment. This is bad news for ranchers, in 2019, more than 419,000 tons of range production was lost in Nebraska to woody encroachment.