United States Department of Agriculture
Natural Resources Conservation Service		 Alabama Go to Accessibility Information
Skip to Page Content





Covington County 2004 EQIP Program


Executive Summary

The Natural Resources Conservation Service of USDA in Covington County, Alabama, will hold a signup for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) for the 2004 Fiscal Year. This signup will be held on a continuous basis. Any eligible landuser who has a resource concern or problem on pastureland, cropland, hayland or animal agriculture may apply for assistance through this program. Applications may be made at the NRCS office of the Covington County USDA Service Center located at 23952 Alabama Highway 55, Suite 1, Andalusia, Alabama, Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The telephone number is 334-222-3519 ext. 3. Fax number is 334 222-1565.

The USDA Work Group has identified the resource concerns in Covington County as:

1st Priority: Soil Erosion/Soil Quality
2nd Priority: Grazing Lands and Water Quality/Animal Waste

All applications will be ranked using the Statewide Ranking Tool and approvals will be given to those applications that will provide the greatest environmental benefits, i.e. those receiving the most environmental points. In the event of a tie and limited funds, the tie breaker may be made by a flip of a coin or from drawing names from a hat, with a witness present. Contracts will be developed for approved applications in order of descending environmental points until all funds are obligated. Applications will be "batched" and ranked after cut-off date April 30, 2004. Any applications filed later than this date will be considered in the next pool of funding (if additional funds become available).

Eligible cost-share rates and practices are listed below. Conservation tillage (practice code 329A) and conservation crop rotation (practice code 328) will be limited to 100 acres per participant.

Cost-Share Rates

  1. Cost-share rates of most structural practices will be set at no more than 60 percent.
  2. Limited resource producers and ranchers may be eligible for up to 90 percent cost-share.
  3. Acres for conservation tillage and conservation crop rotation will be limited to 100 acres per participant.

Eligible Practices

313 Waste Storage Facility
328 Conservation Crop Rotation (Grassed based rotation)
329A Residue Management (Strip-Till, High Residue)
342 Critical Area Planting
362 Diversion
378 Pond (Livestock Water Only)
382 Fence (cross fence only)
410 Grade Stabilization Structure
412 Grassed Waterway
466 Land Smoothing (for terraces)
468 Lined Waterway or Outlet
512 Pasture and Hayland Planting
516 Pipeline
561 Heavy Use Area Protection
600 Terrace
614 Watering Facility
620 Underground Outlet
638 Water and Sediment Control Basin
642 Water Well
717 Livestock Shade Structure
728 Stream Crossing
749 Waste Field Storage
769 Incinerator

Note: This summary was prepared prior to release of finalized 2004 EQIP manual. Program details such as program eligibility requirements and percent of cost-share may change.

Applications may also be taken on-line at: http://www.sc.egov.usda.gov. Additional information is available at: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/eqip/.  

 These documents require Adobe Acrobat.
Adobe Acrobat DocumentConservation Program Application - CCC1200 (330 KB)
Adobe Acrobat DocumentState Ranking Tool (76 KB)
Adobe Acrobat DocumentState Practices, Cost-Share Rates, and Restrictions (100 KB)

 

<Back to County Information/Map