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USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Announces May 13, 2022, Signup to Support Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry in Arkansas

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The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is holding a signup to support climate-smart agriculture and forestry through voluntary conservation practices. 

LITTLE ROCK, ARK., April 11, 2022 – The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is holding a signup to support climate-smart agriculture and forestry through voluntary conservation practices. This assistance, available through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), will help agricultural producers plan and implement voluntary conservation practices that sequester carbon, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change on working lands.

NRCS will rank applications for funding based on expected climate change mitigation benefits. Producers can contact the NRCS office at their local USDA Service Center to learn more about the selection process for awarding contracts. Priority conservation categories in Arkansas include:

Building soil health and improving nitrogen management

  • Includes producers in Craighead, Mississippi, St. Francis, Lee, Phillips, Monroe, Cross, Crittenden, Woodruff, Greene, Arkansas, Jefferson, Desha, Lincoln and Chicot counties

Improving conservation management for rice production

  • Includes producers in Craighead, Poinsett, Cross, Lonoke, Prairie, Arkansas, Mississippi, Crittenden and St. Francis counties

Improving agroforestry, forestry and upland wildlife habitat

  • Includes producers in Saline, Hot Spring, Clark, Nevada, Hempstead, Lafayette, Columbia, Grant, Dallas, Ouachita Union, Bradley, Cleveland, Jefferson, Ashley, Drew and Lincoln counties

NRCS accepts program applications on a continuous basis but sets dates to batch and rank applications as funding allows. Farmers and landowners in Arkansas who submit applications to their local NRCS office by May 13, 2022, will be considered for this round of funding. Applications received after May 13, 2022, will be considered in later funding periods, subject to funding availability.

“Agricultural producers are the best stewards of our lands and waters, and they play a critical role in climate change mitigation,” said Mike Sullivan, NRCS state conservationist in Arkansas. “We will use this EQIP signup to deliver support for implementing critical climate-smart conservation practices to our producers. By working with our partner groups across the state, we are striving to ensure funds are equitably distributed, including to our historically underserved producers.”

All USDA Service Centers are open for business, including those that restrict in-person visits or require appointments. All service center visitors wishing to conduct business with NRCS or any other USDA service center agency should call ahead and schedule an appointment.

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