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Mills 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 Mills County Resource Concerns to be addressed by EQIP:

Air Quality

  • Excessive Greenhouse Gas-CO2

  • Objectionable Odors

  • Particulate Matter less than 10 micrometers in diameter

Domestic Animals

  • Inadequate Quantities and Quality of Feed and Forage

  • Inadequate Stock Water

Fish and Wildlife

  • Inadequate Cover/Shelter 

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

Plant Condition

  • Forage Quality and Palatability

  • Noxious and Invasive Plants

  • Productivity, Health and Vigor

Soil Condition 

  • Organic Matter Depletion

Soil Erosion

  • Classic and/or Ephemeral Gully

  • Sheet and Rill

  • Stream bank

Water Quality

  • Excessive Nutrients and Organics in Surface water

  • Excessive Suspended Sediment and Turbidity in Surface Water

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

These resource concerns address the following National EQIP priorities:

  1. Reductions of non-point source pollution, such as nutrients, sediment, pesticides, or excess salinity in impaired watersheds consistent with Total Daily Maximum Loads (TMDL's), where available, as well as the reduction of surface and groundwater contamination and reduction of contamination from agricultural point sources, such as concentrated animal feeding operations.
  2. Conservation of ground and surface water resources.
  3. Reduction of emissions, such as particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and ozone precursors and depleters that contribute to air quality impairment violations of National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
  4. Reduction in soil erosion and sedimentation from unacceptable levels on agricultural land.
  5. Promotion of at-risk species habitat conservation.

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 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 selections.

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. The county allocation will be divided into separate accounts to address the local resource concerns of soil erosion  and water quality/plant condition. If there are not enough quality applications to use all of the EQIP funds in one of the above categories, the remaining funds may be transferred to the other category.

For more information on EQIP and other NRCS administrated programs contact the Mills County USDA Service Center located at 204 West 5th St., P.O. Box 190, Malvern Iowa 51551. Phone (712) 624-8606, ext 3. Fax (712) 624-8587.

The following files require Acrobat Reader.

EQIP Practice List - 2009
EQIP Application Ranking - 2009   

EQIP Practice List - 2008    For Archival Purposes Only
EQIP Application Ranking - 2008    For Archival Purposes Only

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

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