Montgomery 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 Montgomery 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

• Undesirable Air Movement

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:

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 and the conservation of ground and surface water resources.

2. Reduction in soil erosion and sedimentation from unacceptable high levels on agricultural lands.

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 EQIP contract is carried out according to a conservation plan developed in conjunction with the producer. This plan identifies the appropriate system of practices to address the resource concerns. EQIP applications are prioritized for funding using our locally developed ranking worksheet that considers which resources are to be treated and the location of the contract. Funded EQIP applications result in a contract that lists the practices to be applied along with an application schedule and the amount of federal funds committed. The minimum contract length is one year after the implementation of the last scheduled practice, with a maximum length of ten years. The implemented practices are subject to NRCS technical standards. Farmers may elect to use NRCS or a Technical Service Provider, if available, for EQIP technical assistance.

In Montgomery County three separate accounts will be maintained for the following resource concerns:

1. Soil erosion to treat sheet and rill, ephemeral gully and gully erosion

2. Water quality to treat degraded surface water quality due to animal nutrients

3. Plant Condition to treat low plant productivity on pastureland

EQIP payments will be made using rates established under the Payment Rate Schedule. Payment Rate was established using data collection of the average rates for practices in common resource area 1 in Iowa. Payment will be made on 100% of the established Payment Rate prices. Incentive payments for land management practices will be limited to the minimum amount necessary to encourage a producer to apply the practices. Conservation practices applied with EQIP funds are to be maintained for the service life of the practice, which may be longer than the term of the EQIP contract.

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 help most to address these priority resource concerns in the District.

For more information on EQIP and other NRCS administrated programs, contact the Montgomery County USDA Service Center located at 2505 North Broadway Street, Suite 2, Red Oak, IA  51566. Phone (712) 623-9680. Fax (712) 623-4318.

The following files require Acrobat Reader.

EQIP Practice List - 2008    New!
EQIP Application Ranking - 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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