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Jackson County 2008 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 2008 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 2008 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 p.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 October 26, 2007. Applications received after the close of the batching period will be evaluated and considered for funding in subsequent County or State-wide designated batching periods, if any, as appropriate. The subsequent County batching periods will end November 20th and December 15, 2007. Applications scoring less than 450 total points in batching periods 1 and 2 will be held and batched in the December 15th batching.

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. Forest Health
  2. Limited Resource Farmers
  3. Invasive Species Control

Irrigation/water conservation State initiative will not be funded with county appropriations. Unfunded 2008 applications remaining after available funds are obligated will be cancelled. Litter redistribution will not be offered under the County program in 2008. Payments on Limited Resource Farmer contracts will be paid at a higher rate than standard contracts.

All applications will be ranked using the State-wide, web-based environmental benefits worksheet. County program applications will be accepted and ranked based on one application per person/entity, i.e., all farms on which program assistance is requested will be evaluated, planned and funded as one contract. 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.

  • The maximum acreage per applicant for the Residue Management (329A) practice is set at 150 acres at the $35 per acre rate and 100 acres at the $50 per acre rate.
  • Boundary fencing will not be eligible for cost-share, except for incidental areas associated with fencing for other approved purposes.
  • Streambank stabilization (580) will be limited to 250 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. Over-seeded and re-established pastures must be protected from grazing until stand is well established.
  • Hardwood ecosystems (643) is limited to 150 acres.

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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