The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), reauthorized in the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Farm Bill), is a voluntary USDA conservation program for agricultural producers to treat identified soil, air, water, and related natural resource concerns on eligible land.
Through the EQIP program, farmers, ranchers and owners of forestland, can receive financial and technical assistance for conservation practices such as improving irrigation systems, controlling exotic pests, developing water sources, and improving coniferous forests through thinning and pruning.
Eligibility
Producers who are engaged in crop (including forest products) or livestock production are eligible for the program. Eligible land includes cropland, rangeland, pasture, private non-industrial forestland, and other farm or ranch lands, as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture. For forestland, applicants must have land with a predominance of timber species, such as ponderosa pine, sugar pine, incense cedar, and/or fir species, regardless of intent to harvest.
Producers applying for irrigation system improvements may only request cost-share on those areas which have been irrigated two of the previous five years.
Cost-Sharing Rates
Cost-share payments provide financial assistance to encourage producers to implement conservation practices and to adopt land management practices. Financial reimbursement is only available for practices implemented after a contract is signed and can not be used for any work done prior to that time.
Through EQIP, producers may receive cost-share payments for 50% of the average costs (pre-determined on a state-wide level) of conservation practices to improve and maintain the health of natural resources in the area. “Beginning farmers and ranchers” may be eligible for up to 75% cost-sharing and “limited resource producers” may be eligible for up to 90% cost-sharing.
· A limited resource producer/rancher is: (1) A person with direct or indirect gross farm sales of not more than $100,000 in each of the previous two years; and (2) Has a total household income at or below the National poverty level for a family of four, or less than 50 percent of county median household income in each of the previous two years (to be determined annually using Commerce Department data).
· A beginning farmer or rancher is an individual/entity that has operated a farm/ranch or a owned forested land for no more than ten years
The Application and Funding Process
1. If eligible for the program, a landowner may obtain and submit an application at any USDA Service Center- NRCS office. Applications are accepted continuously throughout the year. The cut-off date for applications is November 2, 2007 for the 2008 program year.
It is recommended that your application and other paperwork are submitted as early as possible to avoid last-minute complications.
Required forms include:
· NRCS-CPA-1200 Conservation Program Application & Appendix
· SF-1199A Direct Deposit Sign-up
· Limited Resource Farmer or Beginning Farmer Status Form
· AD-1026 HELC and Wetland Certification
· CCC-526 Payment Eligibility Certification
· Copy of the deed or lease to the parcel(s)
If applying as a trust, business, or other non-individual status, additional forms will be necessary.
2. An NRCS conservationist will work with the applicant to develop a Conservation Plan. Conservation Plans are developed in conjunction with the producer and address the producer’s objectives and the identified natural resource concerns.
3. Applications are then ranked according to criteria developed at a National, State, and on a locally modified scoring system striving to get the best environmental benefits.
4. Money is distributed to each county, typically in March of the contract year. Applications are funded beginning at the highest ranked project and continuing until the money is expended.
5. If an application is funded, the participant works with the appropriate NRCS office to finalize and sign EQIP contracts. An EQIP contract is the legal document with which the NRCS establishes its relationship with the participant, details the practices the producer will implement, and when they will be implemented. Following signatures on the contract, contract support documents, and “practice requirement” sheets, the participant may begin to implement the plan of operations. Typically, this occurs mid-Spring of the contract year. If an applicant’s contract includes practices that require engineering designs, such as spring development or pipeline, the practice requirement sheets will not be immediately available, and may take up to several months to complete.
6. The participant begins implementing the Conservation Plan, according to the schedule of operations. After one or more practices are completed, the participant contacts an NRCS employee to certify the extent and quality of the work. Following an on-site visit, documentation can be submitted for payment of that practice or contract item(s). Reimbursements typically take four weeks to be deposited in the designated account. This process is repeated until the contract is complete.
