2008 EQIP Applications Due this Fall

To be considered for funding in fiscal year 2008, applications for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) will be due at local USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) this fall. This is about four months sooner than previous years, according to USDA officials. The exact cutoff date will be released as soon as USDA officials make the final date decision.

“We know this deadline will come at a busy time for most farmers,” said Rick Van Klaveren, Iowa NRCS state conservationist. “So we are encouraging producers to come in sooner, before harvest, rather than later.”

Statewide EQIP practices include, but are not limited to: grassed waterways, waste storage facilities, terracing, pest management, ag drainage wellhead protection and pasture management, tree planting, windbreaks, stripcropping, conservation tillage, organic crop production and wildlife habitat management. This list will vary from county-to-county based on local resource concerns.

Heavy rains this spring and summer might have exposed some previously unknown areas of resource concerns, according to Van Klaveren. There may be financial assistance through EQIP to help address some of these problem areas. One of these opportunities may include financial assistance for repairing terraces breached or damaged by the spring and summer heavy rains.

EQIP was originally established under the 1996 Farm Bill. It provides technical and financial assistance to landowners to voluntarily address soil, water and related natural resource concerns on private lands. Conservation plans must be developed for the entire area that will be included in the EQIP contract.

NRCS provides leadership in a partnership effort to help people conserve, maintain and improve our natural resources and environment.

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Contact:
Dave Brommel, Iowa NRCS EQIP Coordinator
515-284-4353

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