USDA NRCS Announces Nearly $15 Million Available to Protect and Improve Migratory Bird Habitat
Interested producers should submit applications for EQIP - MBRI financial assistance by July 14, 2023, to receive funding this year.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced that it is now accepting applications from agricultural producers for enrollment in a special Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) sign-up. USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is investing nearly $15 million to support agricultural producers, through the EQIP - Migratory Bird Resurgence Initiative (MBRI), helping to protect and improve natural resources and habitat for migratory birds and other avian species in the Prairie Pothole Region and targeted areas of the Pacific, Mississippi, and Central Flyways. NRCS in Arkansas will provide up to $4 million in financial assistance in fiscal year 2023 for MBRI.
“Creating habitat on private lands in Arkansas’s flyways is vital in sustaining our migratory bird populations as well as building climate resiliency and carbon stewardship on working lands,” said NRCS Arkansas State Conservationist Mike Sullivan. “Providing migratory birds with more areas to nest and additional food and resting areas for overwintering will lead to improved habitat that not only benefits wildlife but will result in greater natural resource conservation.”
In addition to Arkansas, assistance is available in California, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas.
Interested producers should submit applications for EQIP - MBRI financial assistance by July 14, 2023, to receive funding this year.
Applications for EQIP financial assistance are accepted throughout the year. Specific program deadlines are set for ranking and funding opportunities within each state. To review ranking dates in your state, visit the NRCS Ranking Dates webpage.
For more information, contact NRCS at your local USDA Service Center.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy, and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit usda.gov.