Eligible Entities include New Mexico’s pueblos, tribes, and nations; acequias; land grants; soil and water conservation districts (SWCDs); NMSU—Cooperative Extension Service; and other “local governmental entit[ies] with proven land management capacity to support healthy soil”, as Eligible Entities are defined in the Healthy Soil Act. To apply for a Healthy Soil Program grant, an Eligible Entity must follow the steps below by the deadlines noted.
Pay close attention to the documents with an arrow (➜) next to them, as those are documents that you must submit as part of your Healthy Soil Program grant application by the application deadline: March 19, 2025 at 12 p.m. (noon) Mountain Time. Late, incomplete, and paper applications will not be accepted.
Learn more by reading the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Eligible Entities (document coming soon) and by joining us for a webinar:
November 7, 2024 from 10 to 11:30 p.m. Mountain Time: Pre-application webinar for Eligible Entities. You must register in order to attend.
For application tips and Healthy Soil Program updates – as well as soil health news and events – subscribe to our weekly newsletter using the form at the bottom of the Healthy Soil Program home page.
Refer to this checklist to ensure that your Healthy Soil Program grant application is complete and ready for submission. Be sure to read all of the information for each step below. Late, incomplete, and paper applications will not be accepted.
- Images of the project site
- NMDA's bale grazing template completed by NRCS ( required only if bale grazing is a compoment of your project) completed by NRCS
- NMDA's timeline and budget template (coming soon)
- Other supporting items ( optional)
Identify the project site(s) within the Eligible Entity’s jurisdiction, as well as the soil health-related resource concerns the Eligible Entity’s project will address.
Selecting the Poject Site
The Eligible Entity may wish to consider a number of factors in deciding where to implement its project, including but not limited to:
- the land with the greatest potential for soil health improvement
- the number of local land managers benefitted
- the plant communities and animal populations benefitted
- the visibility of the project to local land managers, the public, and students; and
- the proximity of the project site to where the Eligible Entity is headquartered, making the site easily accessible for those implementing the project’s day-to-day activities.
Identifying Soil Health-Related
The Eligible Entity must identify clearly the soil health-related resource concerns its project will focus on. For assistance in identifying the soil health-related resource concerns present on the land within the Eligible Entity’s jurisdiction, contact the nearest office of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
Use the Eligible Entity’s knowledge of the land, as well as the knowledge held by local land managers, develop the project idea. Utilize the following questions to guide development of the project idea.
- Which soil health-related natural resource concerns will your project focus on?
- Which soil health principles will best address those resource concerns?
- Which agricultural/conservation practices will best put those soil health principles into action?
- Which of those agricultural/conservation practices can be implemented between mid-July 2025 and late September 2026 (the grant term for NMDA’s Healthy Soil Program)?
- What goods and services will you need in order to implement those agricultural/conservation practices?
- From which companies will you source those goods and services?
- What are the actual costs of those goods and services?
Thinking through such questions will help you complete your Healthy Soil Program grant application. So will conducting a bit of research, especially to identify the specific goods and services you’ll need to implement your project, as well as the sellers and costs of those items. (Refer to our FAQ near the top of the page to better understand eligible vs. ineligible expenses.)
Work on the online grant application, as well as the timeline and budget.
Online Application
➜ The online grant application for NMDA’s Healthy Soil Program (and other grant programs at NMDA) will be available at https://grants.nmda.nmsu.edu. First-time users must create a free account (login ID + password).
Timeline and Budget Template
As part of the online application, Eligible Entities must upload several documents. One critical document is the timeline and budget template. Use the template to:
- detail the timeline of activities for your project; and
- document the specific goods and services associated with those activities, as well as their actual costs.
This is the only way to present an accurate picture of what you’re seeking Healthy Soil Program funding to purchase.
➜ Download NMDA’s FY26 timeline and budget template (document coming soon) to your computer, then work to complete it. Save the completed template so you can upload it later as part of your online application
Deadline to submit your online application: March 19, 2025 at 12 p.m. (noon) Mountain Time.
Take time to review your application. Re-read each application question and your answer to it. Ensure that you have uploaded all of the required documents (see checklist near top of page) where noted in the Eligible Entity grant application at https://grants.nmda.nmsu.edu/. Late, incomplete, and paper applications will not be accepted.
Questions? Email NMDA’s Healthy Soil Program team at hsp@nmda.nmsu.edu.