Steve Musser
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Auburn, Ala. – USDA’s Acting Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) State Conservationist Ben Malone announced that October 17, 2014, is the signup batching date for producers for 2015 funding for the following conservation programs:
• Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) which includes energy retrofits, wildlife, forestry, cropland erosion, cropland irrigation, grazing land, and water quality concerns.
• Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)
• Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) which has two options.
1. Agricultural Land Easement (ALE): includes the Farm and Ranchland
Protection Program and Grassland Reserve Program
2. Wetland Reserve Easements (WRE): open land that has wet soils and was
drained.
Applications are accepted on a continuous basis; however, selecting applications for funding is completed periodically through batching periods with specific cutoff dates.
In the EQIP programs, eligible producers may receive a payment based on the statewide average cost of the installation of the conservation practice.
Special emphasis participants like socially disadvantaged, limited resource, and beginning farmers and ranchers are eligible for a higher payment rate. In addition, socially disadvantaged, limited resource, and beginning farmers and ranchers can receive up to 50 percent advanced payment for purchasing materials or contracting.
Interested producers should visit their nearest USDA Service Center to determine eligibility. NRCS field offices are listed in the telephone directory under U.S. Department of Agriculture or on-line at http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov. General program information is available on the Alabama NRCS website at www.al.nrcs.usda.gov. Individuals are not eligible until they have completed the Farm Bill eligibility requirements.