USDA Releases Final Rule on EQIP

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service has released the final rule for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). The 2002 Farm Bill reauthorized and amended the program.

The final rule, published in the Federal Register on May 30, 2003, describes how the program will be implemented. A total of $15.5 million dollars in Fiscal Year 2003 funds has been made available for EQIP in Kansas.

Sign Up for EQIP by July 3, 2003

"With the final rule in place, we have now set a date of July 3, 2003, as a cutoff date to begin evaluation of applications received by NRCS in Kansas," said Harold L. Klaege, state conservationist. "These applications will be considered for the funding allocation we received for Kansas for Fiscal Year 2003."

"If producers want to apply, they need to get to their NRCS field office or local county conservation district soon, so their application is ready to be considered for 2003 funding," said Klaege.

"EQIP is a valuable tool to help our state’s agricultural producers meet the significant environmental regulations they face, while continuing to be good stewards of the land. EQIP helps them implement conservation practices that improve and protect our natural resources," said Klaege.

The final rule revises the purpose of EQIP to optimize environmental benefits and clarifies definitions and terms — especially definitions for individuals, persons and eligibility issues.

Kansas Identifies Four Resource Concerns to Address

"The objective of EQIP is to address natural resource concerns through the application of improved conservation systems. EQIP is an environmental enhancement program," explained Klaege.

EQIP — one of the largest programs in the Farm Bill - is a voluntary conservation program that promotes environmental quality and assists producers to meet local, state and federal regulations.

In Kansas, EQIP funds will help farmers and ranchers install conservation practices that improve and protect Kansas’s four natural resources concerns. They are:

• Air Quality addressing Airborne Odors due to livestock concerns,
• Grazing Lands Health addressing Pest Management, Plant Productivity and Health,
• Soil Quality addressing Excessive Wind Erosion,
• Water Quality addressing Confined Animal Waste; Concentrated, Non-confined Animal Waste; Nutrients, Pesticides, and Sedimentation; and
• Water Quantity addressing Ground and Surface Water Conservation.

EQIP Addresses Drought Impacted Natural Resource Concerns

The Kansas NRCS will target over $1 million of 2003 EQIP funds to address heightened natural resource concerns due to extreme drought conditions. This assistance will be offered in 31 western Kansas counties determined to be in moderate to extreme drought by the US Drought Monitor Index.  Counties where this targeted assistance is available are the following: Cheyenne, Rawlins, Decatur, Norton, Sherman, Thomas, Sheridan, Wallace, Logan, Gove, Greeley, Hamilton, Stanton, Wichita, Scott, Kearny, Morton, Grant, Finney, Lane, Ness, Trego, Ellis, Graham, Rooks, Osborne, Mitchell, Republic, Jewell, Smith, and Phillips.

Ranchers within the drought impacted area will be eligible for an increased cost-share rate to address grazing lands health concerns by implementing conservation systems that include: deferred grazing, planned grazing system, livestock water development, prescribed grazing, use exclusion, and fencing.

A map of the drought impacted counties requires Acrobat Reader.

Key Points - Kansas Drought Impacted Grazing Lands Health Natural Resource Concerns
Drought Impacted Counties (PDF; 72 KB) (text version)

Ground and Surface Water Conservation Goes Statewide

Producers across the state may apply for assistance through the ground and surface water conservation provisions of EQIP. Assistance to a producer may be provided only to facilitate a conservation measure that results in net savings in ground or surface water resources in the agricultural operation of the producer.

Conservation systems and practices will be used to promote ground and surface water conservation to improve irrigation systems, enhance irrigation efficiencies, convert to the production of less water intensive cropping systems, and improve water storage.

Apply at local NRCS Office

Agricultural producers interested in participating in EQIP can apply at any time at their local NRCS office or USDA Service Center. NRCS will evaluate each application and give higher priority to those applications that use cost-effective conservation practices; treat multiple resource concerns; address national, state or local priorities; and provide the most environmental benefits.

EQIP sign-up information is on the Web on the Kansas website or the national NRCS website or available from the local NRCS office. In addition to the application form, there is application information for each state, a list of eligible practices and average costs, and specifics on Kansas’s ranking process, including criteria used to evaluate applications.

The final rule and additional information on EQIP and other conservation programs is also available.