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Kansas Technical Committee Minutes - September 14, 2006

Kansas Technical Committee (KTC) Teleconference
Thursday, September 14, 2006
10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
NRCS Conference Center
747 Duvall - Salina, Kansas

Troy J. Munsch, Assistant State Conservationist for Programs, NRCS, gave the welcome and opening remarks. Introductions were made.

Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)

Gaye L. Benfer, Soil Conservationist, NRCS, reviewed the August 29, 2006, announcement by Mike Johanns, Agriculture Secretary, that announced assistance to farmers and ranchers to manage drought. The announcement directed that state conservationists obtain recommendations from their state technical committees on focusing a portion of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 conservation program funds on conservation practices related to drought response and mitigation.

Gaye reviewed previous EQIP drought responses from FY 2002 through FY 2004, and requested recommendations on the designation of a drought impacted area, resource concerns affected, and changes to financial assistance for FY 2007.

The committee reviewed the counties eligible in the Livestock Assistance Grant Program and the Grassland Reserve Program Designated Drought Affected Counties. It was the recommendation of the group to use the Grassland Reserve Program (GRP) Designated Drought Affected Counties with the following changes: (1) Remove Woodson County and (2) add Morton County. These recommendations were to give the map more continuity.

The following document is in Adobe Acrobat format.

Adobe Acrobat DocumentDesignated Drought Affected Counties (84 KB)

The committee reviewed the current resource concerns that EQIP treats and recommended that the Grazing Lands Health and Water Quality resource concerns receive additional drought assistance.

The committee reviewed the recommended EQIP eligible practices for FY 2007. The committee recommended that eligible practices cost-share rates and incentives remain the same for the drought affected counties. It was recommended that additional funding be made available to these counties. The committee recommended that 7.5 percent of the FY 2007 EQIP financial assistance allocation be targeted to the recommended counties in the recommended resource concerns.

Meeting adjourned at 11:30 a.m.

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