Jackson County 2007 EQIP Program

Executive Summary

The USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Jackson County, Alabama, will hold a signup for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) for the 2007 Fiscal Year. This signup will be held on a continuous basis. Any eligible land user who has a resource concern or problem on pastureland, cropland, hayland, and forest and wildlife land may apply for assistance through this program.

The Jackson County EQIP program will offer eligible applicants the opportunity to enter into multi-year cost-sharing agreements through the USDA-NRCS. The following resource concerns, shown with the assigned priority, will be addressed under the 2007 program.

1. Grazing Lands
2. Water Quality/Animal Waste and Erosion/Sediment Control
3. Forest Health and Wildlife

Application for program participation may be made at the NRCS office, or the Farm Service Agency (FSA) office, located at 2345 South Broad St, Scottsboro, Alabama. Office hours are 7:30 a.m.– 4:00 a.m. (lunch 12:00–12:30), Monday through Friday. The telephone number is 256-574-1005, and the fax number is 256-574-0923. The local contact person is Jim Frost, District Conservationist.

The first batching period will end November 17, 2006. Applications received after the close of the batching period will be evaluated and considered for funding in subsequent State-wide designated batching periods, if any.

Applications for State-wide concerns which are unfunded at the State level may be considered for funding under the County program, after all County program applications have been ranked and funded, in the following order of priority:

1. Limited Resource Farmer
2. Limited Resource Small Scale Farmer Initiative
3. Invasive Species Control

Irrigation/water conservation State initiative will not be funded with county appropriations. Unfunded 2007 applications remaining on September 30, 2007, will be cancelled. Litter redistribution will be offered under the County program.

All applications will be ranked using the State-wide, web-based environmental benefits worksheet. County program applications will be accepted and ranked on the basis of tract number. Applications which represent the greatest environmental need, i.e., the highest score on the worksheet, will be funded first. Points scored on an application relative to any of the identified resource concerns will be summed to produce a composite score that will be used to determine final ranking order.

Applications will be assigned a resource concern label, if needed, based on the concern which produces the highest number of points. Contracts will be developed for approved applications, based on the order of descending points, until all available funds are obligated. Applications scoring "0" points will be ineligible for program participation. In the event of a tie score, the application with the earliest submittal date will have priority.

Practices listed on the NRCS State list are available for contracting. Cost-share rates listed under the NRCS State guidelines will be used for contracting. The maximum acreage per applicant for the (329A) Residue Management practice is set at 100 acres at the $35 per acre rate and 70 acres at the $50 per acre rate. Boundary fencing will not be eligible for cost share, except for incidental areas. Streambank stabilization (580) will be limited to 150 linear feet per contract. Pasture planting (512) is limited to 200 acres per contract. Both total re-establishment and over-seeding of existing stands in pasture/hayland will be available in the program.

County Ranking Tool for FY2007 County Allocations

Additional information is available at: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/eqip/. 

 These documents may require Adobe Acrobat or Microsoft Excel.

Eligible Practices and Cost-share Types and Rates FY07
Appendix to Form NRCS-CPA-1202: Conservation Program Contract (National NRCS-will open in new window)

Conservation Program Application - NRCS-CPA-1200y (39 KB)

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