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Greene 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.

Greene County has announced a second cutoff date for FY08 EQIP applications of January 18, 2008. Visit the USDA Service Center in Jefferson, Iowa for more details.

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

Air Quality

  • Adverse Air Temperature

  • Ammonia (NH3)

  • Chemical Drift

  • Excessive Greenhouse Gas – CH4 (methane)

  • Excessive Greenhouse Gas – CO2 (carbon dioxide)

  • Excessive Ozone

  • Objectionable Odors

  • Particulate matter less than 10 micrometers in diameter

  • Particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter

  • Reduced Visibility

  • Undesirable Air Movement

Domestic Animals

  • Inadequate quantities and quality of feed and forage

  • Inadequate shelter

  • Inadequate stock water

  • Stress and Mortality

Fish and Wildlife

  • Imbalance among and within populations

  • Inadequate cover/shelter

  • Inadequate food

  • Inadequate space

  • Inadequate water

  • Threatened and Endangered Fish and wildlife species

  • Habitat Fragmentation

  • T&E Species:  Declining species, species of concern

Plant Condition

  • Forage Quality and Palatability

  • Noxious and Invasive Plants

  • Plants not adapted or suited

  • Productivity, health and vigor

  • Threatened and endangered plant species

  • Wildfire Hazard

Soil Erosion

  • Classic gully

  • Ephemeral gully

  • Mass movement

  • Road, road sides and construction sites

  • Streambank

  • Sheet and rill

  • Shoreline

  • Wind

Water Quality

  • Excessive nutrients and organics in groundwater

  • Excessive nutrients and organics in surface water

  • Excessive suspended sediment and turbidity in surface water

  • Harmful levels of pathogens in groundwater

  • Harmful levels of pathogens in surface water

  • Harmful levels of pesticides in groundwater

  • Harmful levels of pesticides in surface water

  • Harmful temperatures of surface water

Water Quantity

  • Excessive runoff, flooding and ponding

  • Excessive subsurface water

  • Inadequate outlets

  • Inefficient water use on irrigated land

  • Inefficient water use on non-irrigated land

  • Insufficient flows in water courses

  • Reduced capacity and conveyances by sediment deposition

  • Reduced storage of water bodies by sediment accumulation

Soil Condition

  • Compaction

  • Contaminants - Residual pesticides

  • Contaminants - Salts and other chemicals

  • Contaminants - Animal waste and other organics - N

  • Contaminants - Animal waste and other organics - P

  • Contaminants – Animal waste and other organics -K

  • Contaminants - Commercial fertilizer - N

  • Contaminants - Commercial fertilizer - P

  • Contaminants – Commercial fertilizer - K

  • Damage from sediment deposition

These resource concerns address the following National EQIP priorities:

  1. Reduction of non-point source 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 or point source such as contamination from confined animal feeding operations.

  2. The conservation of a considerable amount of ground or surface water resources.

  3. Reduction in soil erosion and sedimentation from unacceptable levels on agricultural land. The local work group also recommended a list of conservation practices to be addressed, and the cost-share rates and/or incentive payments that are the most cost-effective, longest duration, and help most to address these priority resource concerns in the District.

The goal of the locally led group was to recommend a ranking system that rewarded and gave priority to those producers that address the above resource concerns. 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 through 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 Greene County USDA Service Center located at 1703 North Elm Street, Suite 2, Jefferson, IA  50129. Phone (515) 386-3817. Fax (515) 386-4328.

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
 Nutrient Management Intensity Options - 2007    For Archival Purposes Only

 EQIP Practice List - 2006    For Archival Purposes Only
EQIP Application Ranking - 2006    For Archival Purposes Only
 Nutrient Management Intensity Options - 2006    For Archival Purposes Only

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