“Conservation really started out with the 1930s farm bill, and it was really for soil erosion. It wasn't for water quality or all these other benefits. Agriculture evolved considerably as an industry, but conservation delivery didn't. So you still have these programs based on 1930s models, but we have this more modern ag system.”
The Prairie Farm Podcast · October 2026
Context
Asked whether nonprofits are filling the gap left by privatized public services, Inman explains why public conservation programs lag modern farming and why her group's early niche was nimble, low-strings funding.
Transcript
…build our sophistication to be able to serve our partners. And so I think when you're, if you're another nonprofit leader, try to understand where are those leverage points and how can you leverage more for your mission. And you have to treat this as a business plan. There's no other way around it.
…on the flip side. I'm fascinated by what you were saying on, so there used to be all these services given, but then privatization happened for the most profitable sections of it. So then there was a gap on everything that isn't profitable. Are you saying that nonprofits are filling that gap?
Yes, nonprofits are filling that gap. And maybe not so much. I mean, even in the conservation space a little bit, right? Like where our bread and butter started was we were stepping in with funding that was more nimble and had less strings attached. Because if you think of conservation, it really started out with the 1930s farm bill, right? And it was really for soil erosion. It wasn't for water quality or all these other benefits. Agriculture evolved considerably as an industry, but conservation delivery didn't. And so you still have these programs that are based on 1930s models that are really addressing, you know, soil erosion, not necessarily all the other issues that we have. But we have this more modern ag system. So all of the red tape and even the way we're delivering it, farm by farm, you know, NRCS agent to, you know, to farmer wasn't, isn't keeping pace for where we are right now for water quality, soil erosion, and all of that. And so some of what we did in the very beginning that really made an impact was we launched our conservation acceleration fund. And that was just. Just nimble money that…
Is that the one? Is that where, because you guys steward like tens of millions of dollars? Yes. Yeah. Is that where most of that money goes into or comes from for you guys? Yeah.
I mean, the major, almost, I would say, so our operational budget is, you know, maybe 1.5 million, but we're raising between 13 and 25 million a year. And so, and the majority of that is, you know, staff costs and IT and, you know, auditing and stuff like that. You're saying
the 1.5 million is the, not the 13, the 20 million is the staff.
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