Nebraska Buffer Strip Program

The Nebraska Buffer Strip Program is designed to filter Agri-chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides from cropland adjacent to perennial and seasonal streams, ponds, and wetlands. Buffers provide an area to slow down water from rain events allowing suspended sediment and chemicals to drop out before reaching surface water bodies.

The program is to be used in conjunction with the USDA Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), or other programs, however it can be used by itself, as well. In addition to offering rental rates for both irrigated and non-irrigated cropland, and incentives for partnering with other government programs, there are incidental haying and grazing allowances in the Nebraska Buffer Strip Program. Contracts run from 5 to 10 years. State program payments vary from $20 to $250 per acre, depending on soil type, whether the acres are irrigated or not and whether payments are received from other programs. Two kinds of buffer strips are eligible - filter strips, which are narrow strips of grass; and riparian forest buffer strips containing trees and grass. The minimum widths are 20 and 55 feet, respectively; the maximum widths are 120 and 180 feet, respectively.

Contact your local NRCS or the ULNRD office for more information or to begin your application process.