The Utah Agriculture Certificate of Environmental Stewardship (ACES) program is a voluntary incentive-based certificate program that “helps farmers and ranchers, of all sizes, evaluate their entire operation to make management decisions to sustain agricultural viability, protect natural resources, support environmentally responsible agricultural production practices and build positive public opinion.”

The ACES program is administered through collaboration between “Utah Conservation Commission, Utah Farm Bureau Federation, local Conservation Districts, Utah Department of Environmental Quality, commodity organizations, universities and other state and federal agencies.” The program assists farmers and ranchers in the installation of best management practices to protect natural resources on their land and recognizes their efforts to support and maintain these practices through this 5-year certification stewardship program (UDAF 2016b).

Interested landowners can contact their local conservation district to work with a certified planner who can assist them with the certification process. To become eligible for certification, “producers must complete three comprehensive steps: (1) document completion of education modules, (2) complete a detailed application to evaluate on-farm risk and (3) participate in an on-farm inspection to verify program requirements applicable to state and federal environmental regulations” (UDAF 2016a).

• Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. 2016a. Agriculture Certificate of Environmental Stewardship. ag.utah.gov/aces/index.html.
• Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. 2016b. Agriculture Certificate of Environmental Stewardship. http://ag.utah.gov/home/blog/386-aces-presentation.html.

Amount of the Incentive
Technical assistance to install BMPs and obtain certification

Keywords: technical assistance