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Cass County EQIP

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is a voluntary conservation program of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) that promotes agricultural production and environmental quality. This program is available to farmers and offers financial and technical assistance to install or implement structural and management practices on eligible agricultural land.

The following are Cass County Resource Concerns to be addressed by EQIP:

Air Quality      

  • Excessive Greenhouse Gas-CO2

  • Particulate Matter less than 10 micrometers and/or 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM 10/2.5)

  • Reduced Visibility

Domestic Animals 

  • Inadequate Quantities and Quality of Feed and Forage

  • Inadequate Shelter and/or Stock Water

  • Stress and Mortality

Fish and Wildlife        

  • Habitat Fragmentation

  • Imbalance Among and Within Populations

  • Inadequate Cover/Shelter/Food/space/Water

  • T&E Species: Declining Species, Species of Concern

  • Threatened and Endangered Fish and Wildlife Species

Plant Condition           

  • Forage Quality and Palatability

  • Noxious and Invasive Plants

  • Plants not adapted or suited

  • Productivity, Health and Vigor

  • T&E Plant Species: Declining Species, Species of Concern

  • Threatened and Endangered Plant Species

  • Wildfire Hazard

Soil Condition 

  • Compaction

  • Contaminants-Residual Pesticides; Salts and Other Chemical

  • Contaminants-Animal Waste, Other Organics, and Commercial Fertilizer-N, P, and K

  • Damage from Sediment Deposition

  • Organic Matter Depletion

  • Subsidence

Soil Erosion

  • Classic and/or Ephemeral Gully

  • Mass Movement

  • Sheet and Rill

  • Shoreline

  • Stream bank

  • Wind

Water Quality

  • Excessive Nutrients and Organics in the Ground and/or Surface water

  • Excessive Suspended Sediment and Turbidity in Surface Water

  • Harmful levels of Pathogens in Ground and/or Surface water

  • Harmful levels of Pesticides in Ground and or Surface water

  • Harmful Temperatures of Surface Water

Water Quantity          

  • Excessive Runoff, Flooding, or Ponding; Seepage; Subsurface Water

  • Inadequate Outlets

  • Inefficient Water Use on Non-irrigated Land

  • Insufficient Flows in Water Courses

  • Reduced Capacity of Conveyances by Sediment Deposition

  • Reduced Storage of Water Bodies by Sediment Accumulation

These resource concerns address the following National EQIP priorities:

  • Reduction of non-point pollution, such as nutrients, sediment, pesticides, or excess salinity in impaired watersheds consistent with Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), where available, as well as the reduction of groundwater contamination and the conservation of ground and surface water resources.

  • Reduction in soil erosion and sedimentation from unacceptable high levels on agriculture land.

The goal of the locally led group was to recommend a ranking system that rewarded and gave priority to those producers that help most to address the above resource concerns.

The Cass County EQIP funding will be divided into the following three categories:  Soil Erosion, Water Quality, and Plant Condition.

The ranking will be completed for the specific practices to be applied through the EQIP contract. Sign-up is continuous at the NRCS Field Office. Application ranking will be done periodically as funding allocations become available, will be announced though the NRCS State Office, and will be publicized by all levels of NRCS. The NRCS may establish local, minimum ranking cut-off levels for funding selection. The local work group also recommended a list of conservation practices that are the most cost-effective, longest duration, and address these priority resource concerns in the District.

For more information on EQIP and other NRCS administrated programs, contact the Cass County USDA Service Center located at 503 West 7th Street, Suite 1, Atlantic, IA  50022.

Phone (712) 243-3180. Fax (712) 243-1688.

The following files require Acrobat Reader.

EQIP Practice List - 2008    New!
EQIP Application Ranking - 2008    New!
 Nutrient Management Intensity Options - 2008    New!

 EQIP Practice List - 2007    For Archival Purposes Only
EQIP Application Ranking - 2007    For Archival Purposes Only

 EQIP Practice List - 2006    For Archival Purposes Only
EQIP Application Ranking - 2006    For Archival Purposes Only

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