United States Department of Agriculture
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Alabama Limited Resource Farmer Concern

Funds have been set aside to assist farmers and ranchers with limited resources to develop and maintain economic viability in their farm operations. Application eligibility will be based on the producer, entity, or joint operation farm income as outlined in the USDA-2002 Farm Bill. USDA defines a limited resource producer as one with direct or indirect gross farm sales of less than $116,800 in each of the previous two years, and a person with a total household income at or below the national poverty level for a family of four, or who earns less than 50 percent of the county median household income.

Applicants will have to self-certify that eligibility requirements are met. Potential applicants can determine if they qualify as a Limited Resource Farmer, or Rancher or Forest Owner by using a tool meant to help producers determine if they qualify on the National NRCS website at Limited Resource Self-Determination Tool (will open in a new window).

After applications have been chosen for contract development, status reviews will be conducted to verify eligibility requirements. Participants will be required to provide the necessary documentation within a specific time frame to maintain eligibility.

Eligible Resource Concerns and Practices

All resource concerns used in the EQIP County Programs and all practices listed in the EQIP State Practice and Restriction lists are eligible for financial assistance for this program.  Contact the local Service Center for further guidelines and details of the program.  

Financial Assistance

Financial assistance will be at a higher rate based on average costs in a practice payment schedule.  Contracts may not exceed $30,000 unless a waiver is granted by the NRCS State Conservationist of his designee.

Eligible Resource Concerns and Practices

All resource concerns used in the EQIP County Programs and all practices listed in the EQIP State Practice and Restriction lists are eligible for financial assistance, plus two additional conservation practices (see Additional Information for fact sheets):

1. Micro-irrigation – Plastic Mulch Cropping System
2. Woodland Grazing for Small Ruminants

All eligible applications will be ranked using ranking criteria developed and approved at the state level.

Additional Information and Fact Sheets

These documents require Adobe Acrobat.

Plastic Mulch and Drip Irrigation (Plasticulture) (PDF, 205 KB)
Woodland Grazing for Small Ruminants (PDF, 104 KB)
Micro-Irrigation Plasticulture Drawing (PDF-5 pages, 1.2 MB) 

Posters for field offices to print and display
8x11 (PDF, 657 KB)
11x17 (PDF, 1.15 MB

Success Stories

Program Contact

Alice Love, Soil Conservationist, USDA-NRCS, P.O. Box 311, Auburn, Alabama 36830, e-mail:  alice.love@al.usda.gov, phone:  334-887-4550

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