Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) released the final rule for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). The rule updates USDA’s flagship program as directed by the 2018 Farm Bill and integrates feedback from agricultural producers and others. NRCS received nearly 600 comments on the interim final rule, which was published December 17, 2019. NRCS Acting Chief, Kevin Norton, says the final rule is actually a tweaking of the wording.
According to Norton, updates to EQIP in the interim final rule include adjusting the definition for a Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan (CNMP) to ensure only applicable natural resources need to be considered.
Norton said the final rule enables NRCS to continue helping producers manage their land in the most beneficial ways possible. For more information about the EQIP final rule and how to sign up, click here.