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Etowah County 2008 EQIP Program

Executive Summary

The USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Etowah County, Alabama, will hold a signup for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) for the 2008 Fiscal Year. This signup will be held on a continuous basis. Any eligible landuser who has a resource concern or problem on pastureland, hayland, cropland, or forestland may apply for assistance through this program.

Applications may be made at the NRCS office of the Etowah County USDA Service Center located at 312-B South Third Street, Gadsden, Alabama, Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. The telephone number is 256-546-4841, extension 110. The local contact person is Kenneth Howell, District Conservationist.

The USDA work group has prioritized the following resource concerns for Etowah County:

  1. Grazing Lands
  2. Water Quality
  3. Soil Quality/Erosion
  4. Forest Health and Wildlife

Approvals will be given to those applications that will provide the greatest environmental benefits, i.e., those receiving the most environmental points. Contracts will be developed for approved applications in order of descending environmental points, until all funds are obligated. Due to the potential for a large number of applications under Erosion/Soil Quality for conservation tillage, the Etowah County EQIP work group has set a limit of 100 acres per producer for the practice conservation tillage for FY2008.

Applications will be batched and ranked according to State Office Schedule. The first batching period for ranking and prioritizing applications will be October 26, 2007. Consecutive batching dates will be every 30 days until all funds have been allocated.

If applications rank out equally on resource concerns, then the Etowah County Soil and Water Conservation District Board will select between tied applications by random drawing.

Etowah County will use the Alabama NRCS state approved EQIP Practice and Payment Schedule.  Limited resource farmers will be paid at an increased payment rate.  Plans will be developed using conservation practices and cost-share rates to address resource concerns.

County Ranking Tool for FY2008 County Allocations

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

 These documents may require Adobe Acrobat or Microsoft Excel.

Adobe Acrobat DocumentAlabama EQIP Practice and Payment Schedule 2008

Adobe Acrobat DocumentAppendix to Form NRCS-CPA-1202: Conservation Program Contract (National NRCS-will open in new window)

Adobe Acrobat DocumentConservation Program Application - NRCS-CPA-1200 (39 KB)

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