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| Lamar County 2007 EQIP ProgramExecutive SummaryThe USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Lamar 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. 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 November 17, 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:
All applications will be ranked and approvals based on state and local environmental ranking worksheets 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 and local worksheets 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 applicants who have not received prior cost-share assistance in the EQIP program. 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 and pest management practices. An applicant can only receive the incentive payment on a maximum of 150 acres for each practice. 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:
If all funds allocated for county resource concerns are not obligated, unfunded state-wide resource concerns may be funded with the county allocation. County Ranking Tool for FY2007 County AllocationsAdditional information is available at: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/eqip/. These documents may require Adobe
Acrobat or
Microsoft
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