Agriculture Conservation Experienced Services (ACES) Program | USDA NRCS HR ACES 18 001

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS HR ACES 18 001

The Agriculture Conservation Experienced Services (ACES) Program is a Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) initiative designed to expand and strengthen the delivery of conservation technical assistance across the United States and U.S. territories by tapping into the skills of experienced older workers. Through ACES, NRCS seeks to support the conservation-related programs and authorities administered by the Secretary of Agriculture by bringing in individuals age 55 or older to help with practical, on-the-ground technical services. These services commonly include conservation planning assistance, technical consultation for landowners and producers, and support for the design and implementation of conservation practices. A key feature of the program is that ACES participants are not employees of USDA or state agriculture departments, which allows them to contribute their expertise without affecting retirement annuities.

This opportunity is structured as a discretionary cooperative agreement (Funding Opportunity Number: USDA NRCS HR ACES 18 001) and is specifically aimed at nonprofit private agencies and organizations that are eligible under the Community Service Senior Opportunities Act (42 U.S.C. 3056 et seq.). Eligible applicants are nonprofits with IRS 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education). Rather than providing immediate grant dollars through the initial announcement, NRCS uses this solicitation to select a small number of qualified nonprofit partners that will be awarded national agreements. Those national agreements then make the selected organizations eligible to enter into future, individual agreements that do include funding for specific services and positions. In other words, there is no guaranteed award amount up front, and the published award ceiling is listed as 0, but selected partners can subsequently receive funded work through task- or position-specific agreements.

Geographically, the scope is broad and intended to cover all 50 states and the District of Columbia, along with NRCS-supported areas in the Caribbean and Pacific. That includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The timing described in the announcement reflects a transition from expiring agreements to new ones: existing agreements were set to expire on September 30, 2018, with new awards anticipated around August 1, 2018. The new agreements were planned for a five-year period, and NRCS estimated it would make up to five awards total, meaning only a limited number of nonprofit organizations would be selected to serve as national partners.

The roles and responsibilities are clearly divided between NRCS and the nonprofit awardees, which is typical of a cooperative agreement model. NRCS provides the operational framework for the positions, including the funding associated with approved ACES placements, office space, position descriptions, work assignments, and day-to-day technical oversight of the work performed. The nonprofit partner functions as the employment and workforce pipeline: it is responsible for advertising positions, recruiting and screening candidates, hiring, and administering payroll. The program is designed to accommodate a range of job types, so available positions may vary widely in required education and skill level, depending on local conservation needs.

Cost coverage under the funded individual agreements is also described in practical terms. Beyond wages paid to the ACES enrollees, NRCS funding is intended to cover common administrative and employer-side costs such as federal payroll taxes, unemployment compensation, and pay increases, along with administrative fees associated with managing the participants. Because participants are explicitly not federal employees (and not state agriculture department employees), the arrangement provides NRCS with additional technical capacity while maintaining a distinct employment relationship through the nonprofit partner.

In summary, this grant opportunity is essentially a national partner selection process for nonprofits that can recruit and employ individuals age 55+ to deliver conservation technical assistance under NRCS direction. It does not promise immediate funding at the application stage, but it does create a pathway for selected organizations to receive funding later through individual agreements tied to specific ACES positions and assignments. The intent is to rapidly scale technical services supporting NRCS conservation programs while leveraging the experience of older professionals in a way that is administratively manageable for NRCS and financially neutral with respect to participant retirement benefits.

• The Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Agriculture Conservation Experienced Services (ACES) Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.912, 10.921, 10.924, 10.931, 10.932.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 14, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 15, 2018. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Apply for USDA NRCS HR ACES 18 001

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