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Lamar County 2006 EQIP Program

Executive Summary

The USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Lamar County, Alabama, will hold a signup for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) for the 2006 Fiscal year. This signup will be held on a continuous basis.

If you have a resource concern or problem on pastureland, cropland, hay land, private non-industrial forest land, or other land on your farm, come by the Lamar NRCS office and fill out an application requesting technical and financial assistance. You can file this application in Vernon at the NRCS office between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The office is located at 145 Columbus Avenue NW off the Courthouse Square. The telephone number is 205-695-7622, extension 3.

All applications received through January 6, 2006, will be ranked in the first batching period. Subsequent batching dates will be announced if needed. The local concerns that have been selected for funding consideration in order of priority are:

  1. Water Quality (Animal Waste)
  2. Erosion/Soil Quality
  3. Grazing Lands
  4. Forest Health and Wildlife
  5. Water Conservation

All applications will be ranked and approvals based on a state environmental ranking worksheet that will insure that the most environmental benefit is received from the applications approved. Applicants may certify as a beginning farmer and receive additional ranking points. A beginning farmer is defined as one who has not operated a farm, or who has operated a farm for not more than 10 consecutive years.

Applicants with the highest final ranking point totals generated from the state worksheet and the beginning farmer factor, if applicable, will be ranked higher in consideration to receive cost-share assistance than those individuals with lower points. In the event of a tie, higher priority will be given (1st) applications addressing the highest number of resource concerns and (2nd) applications given points for the greatest number of criteria. If a tie still exists, a random drawing will be held.

The Alabama NRCS state list of eligible practices and associated restrictions and cost-share rates will be offered in Lamar County. An additional county restriction will be placed on the residue management practice. An applicant can only receive the incentive payment on a maximum of 150 acres.

Cost-share rates generally range from 50 percent to 75 percent of the average cost of the practice. Management practices such as residue management and pest management are eligible for incentive payments.

Applicants may apply as a Limited Resource Farmer and receive a 90 percent cost-share rate. To qualify as a Limited Resource Farmer, the following two characteristics must apply for the last two years:

  1. a person with direct or indirect gross farm sales not more than $113,600
  2. a person who has a total household income at or below $19,350

If all funds allocated for county resource concerns are not obligated, unfunded state-wide resource concerns may be funded with the county allocation. Priority for funding is as follows: limited resource farmer special statewide emphasis, limited resource small scale farmer initiation program, litter distribution project, invasive plants management, and ground and surface water conservation.

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 Practices and Restrictions (121 KB)
Adobe Acrobat DocumentState Cost-Share Rates (115 KB)

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