The farmer must then keep abreast of changes to the program, and can obtain information about regulations and compliance, using the Plan Handbook which is downloadable for free from the USDA's website.
As described in the Introduction, many of the species likely to be living in the Potrero area fall into the Wildlife Initiative Program's categories of interest, increasing the likelihood of the landowner receiving financial assistance. This property would also have a good chance of qualifying for parts of the Wildlife Habitat Incentive program because of the large number of species of concern in the area.
	Both programs are administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Because the landowner in this scenario is a beginning farmer (someone who has either never operated a farm or ranch, or has not operated one for ten consecutive years), such programs may pay a higher percentage of the costs associated with implementing conservation measures. To apply for both of these programs, the landowner must: establish farm records with the USDA; obtain a tax ID number for the business; demonstrate eligibility for Beginning Farmer status; and complete a Conservation Program Application. 
	To qualify for the Organic Program, the farmer must also contact one of a list of approved certifiers such as California Certified Organic Farmers and prepare an Organic System Plan. This website has a minimum of 17 sections which must be filled out to create a plan which include detailed descriptions of the farmer's crops, rotation practice, pest management, monitoring plans, and everything else which would affect the farm's organic status. Once the plan is approved by the certifying agency, the landowner may apply to be certified organic, which would cost approximately $575 ($275 for the application fee plus $300 for a farm with organic production value between $20,000 and $50,000 yearly). This could be reimbursed by filling out the Federal Organic Cost Share Application. 
	Once the farm has been certified organic, the Organic Initiative part of the application may be filled out. This includes basic eligibility questions as well as two pages of questions about the specific benefits of the landowner's plans, which are ranked on a points system. A similar (but much longer) application needs to be filled out for the Wildlife Initiative program. 
	An individual landowner may not apply for grants from the California Farmland Conservancy Program, but may apply for an agricultural easement. The first step in this process would be to get the land appraised. According to the appraisal guidelines, this is an unusually challenging and detailed form of appraisal. Researching several local land appraisal services yielded a range of $500-$3500. For a property of this size, $3500 is probably closer to the actual cost. After obtaining an appraisal, the landowner would submit an application for the government or a local land trust to purchase an easement on the property. From then on, it could only be used for practices that do not damage the land or its agricultural potential, such as by degrading the soil or promoting erosion. 