Auburn, Ala. June 28, 2011 – The USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has made available $3.8 million in financial assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to assist producers recovering from the tornadoes that ravaged Alabama during April and May of this year. Applications are being accepted on a continuous basis, however, NRCS establishes “cut-off” or submission deadline dates for evaluation and ranking of eligible applications. The first submission date will be July 8, 2011.
“Alabama was pleased to receive this much-needed financial assistance,” said State Conservationist Dr. William Puckett. “These funds will help producers recover from agricultural losses from the recent tornadoes.”
Financial assistance will be provided for practices that were destroyed or damaged due to the tornadoes: Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan CAP’s, Waste Storage Facility, Animal Mortality Facility, Composting Facility, Critical Area Planting, Fence, Grade Stabilization Structure, Grassed Waterway, Irrigation Water Management, Land Smoothing, Land Clearing, Access Control, Mulching, Pasture and Hayland Planting, Pipeline, Pumping Plant for Water Control, Heavy Use Area Protection, Stream Crossing, Terraces, Watering Facility, Livestock Shade Structure, Temporary Waste Field Storage, and Seasonal High Tunnel House.
Eligible counties include: Autauga, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton, Choctaw, Colbert, Covington, Cullman, DeKalb, Elmore, Escambia, Etowah, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Hale, Jackson, Jefferson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marengo, Marion, Marshall, Monroe, Morgan, Perry, Pickens, St. Clair, Sumter, Tallapoosa, Talladega, Tuscaloosa, Walker, Winston, and Washington.
EQIP offers financial and technical assistance to install structural and management practices on eligible non-federal lands to address natural resource concerns. Conservation treatment activities for EQIP are carried out in accordance with a conservation plan that is developed with the landowner or manager.
Interested landowners can contact their local NRCS office listed in the telephone book under U.S. Department of Agriculture or online at http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov. General program information is available on the Alabama NRCS website at www.al.nrcs.usda.gov/programs.