The state office of the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Alabama (NRCS-AL) has announced they will use the new “Act Now” policy to deliver conservation practices faster. This program allows NRCS to quickly approve and obligate a ranked application in a designated ranking pool when an eligible application meets or exceeds a State-determined minimum threshold, ranking score.
This means under the Act Now policy, qualifying applications are automatically approved to move forward in the process without waiting for all submissions to be made in a given period. That is what allows the NRCS to “Act Now” in moving applications to the point of contract obligation more quickly.
Under the Act Now policy, Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) Fiscal Year 2024 applications will be put into ranking pools, based on the various conservation practices. These include the Climate Smart Agriculture Initiative the Seasonal High Tunnel Initiative, the On-farm Energy Initiative, Irrigation Initiative and more.
Application scores will be calculated at the NRCS Alabama Act Now page.
Alabama producers wanting help implementing any of the listed conservation practices, may start submitting applications now, for consideration under Act Now policy guidelines that take effect January 3, 2024.
But what this all means, is no longer having to wait for all applications to be reviewed, prior to making approvals for a ranking pool.
Applications eligible for the identified Act Now ranking pools will be accepted on a continuous sign-up basis through May 3, 2024, at which time the Act Now submission period will close.
To learn more, just contact NRCS at your local USDA Service Center.