15 Conecuh Co EQIP
Conecuh County 2015 EQIP Program
Executive Summary
The USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Conecuh County, Alabama, will hold a sign-up for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) for the 2015 Fiscal Year. Signup is open and applications are taken on a continuous basis. This program is designed to provide technical and financial assistance to correct or improve resource concerns or problems on cropland, pastureland, woodland, or hayland.
Applications are taken at:
USDA-NRCS
Conecuh County USDA Service Center
102 Liberty Street
Evergreen, Alabama 36401
Hours: Between 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday
Phone: 251-578-1520, extension 3
Contact: District Conservationist
The final date for accepting applications to meet the first batching period for ranking and prioritizing applications will be October 17, 2014. Additional batching periods will be held as needed to obligate available funding. Applicants must ensure that they meet USDA program eligibility requirements through the Farm Service Agency by the close of the ranking period.
All applications will be ranked and approvals based on an environmental ranking worksheet that has been adjusted to meet local resource concerns. Applications with the highest point totals generated from this worksheet will be ranked higher in consideration to receive financial assistance than those applications with lower points within each resource concern. As funds are allocated to each resource concern, the top applicant within each concern will receive funding first in the order of priority listed below before additional applicants within each resource concern are considered. The remaining funding will be allocated among the resource concerns to ensure that the most county level funding is exhausted and the least is turned back to the state level. In the event of a tie in points, these applications will be funded in the order of 1) treated acres with the most highly erodible land (HEL) and second tie breaker, 2) contracted least cost.
Local resource concerns in priority order are:
- Grazing Lands
- Erosion/Soil Quality
- Forest Health and Wildlife
- Water Quality
- Irrigation Water Management
Applications not funded during FY 2015 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.
Limitations: $10,000 for tree planting – this includes all practices associated with planting
The Alabama NRCS state payment rates and list of practices and restrictions will be used as the eligible EQIP payment rates and practices for Conecuh County.
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).
Limited Resource Farmers, New and Beginning Farmers, Veterans and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers may be eligible to receive a higher payment rate or priority in funding.
Additional information is available on the National NRCS EQIP website.
