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Escambia County 2008 EQIP Program

Executive Summary

The USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Escambia County, Alabama, will hold a signup for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) for the 2008 Fiscal Year. Signup is open countywide and is continuous.

This program is designed to address resource concerns or problems on cropland, pastureland, woodland, or hayland requiring practices that meet the Alabama NRCS state approved EQIP Practice and Payment Schedule containing a list of program payment rates and programmatic restrictions for implementation.

Applications are taken at the NRCS office between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday at the Escambia County USDA Service Center and Agricultural Science Building located at 175 Ag Science Drive, Brewton, Alabama 36426. You may contact this office for additional information at 251-867-8042, extension 3, or by contacting the District Conservationist Detra Boutwell. 

The final date for accepting applications to meet the first batching period for ranking and prioritizing applications will be October 26, 2007. Additional batching periods will be held as needed to obligate available funding.

All applications will be ranked and approvals based on an environmental ranking worksheet that has been adjusted to meet local resource concerns. Local resource concerns in priority order are:

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

Applications with the highest point totals generated from this worksheet will be ranked higher in consideration to receive cost-share assistance than those applications with lower points. In the event of a tie in points, these applications will be funded in the order of contracted least cost.

Applications not funded during FY 2008 may be deferred per the applicant’s request to the following year’s program sign-up; however, they may be subject to program guideline modifications prior to the following sign-up’s first batching period.

All conservation practices and cost-share rates will be the same as in the Alabama NRCS state approved EQIP Practice and Payment Schedule with the following additional county-wide restrictions:

  • a 150 acreage maximum on no-till/strip-till per producer
  • a 200 acreage maximum for forest health and wildlife practices per landowner or land owning entity.

Limited resource farmers will be paid at an increased payment rate.

Written leases must be provided for the length of the contract where applicants installing practices are not the current landowner(s). Structural practices installed must have prior written approval of landowner(s).

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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