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Programs
Districts also play a key role in promoting and carrying
out federal programs, including, but not limited to:
EQIP—Environmental Quality Incentives
Program:
The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is a
voluntary conservation program of the USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS) that promotes agricultural
production and environmental quality. This program is
available to farmers, and offers financial and technical
assistance to install or implement structural and management
practices on eligible agricultural land. Applications for
EQIP can be made at local NRCS offices.
The EQIP application is based on assistance and decisions
reached with producers during the conservation planning
process. EQIP applications are prioritized for funding using
a state or locally developed ranking worksheet that
generally considers cost-effectiveness, resources to be
treated, meeting national EQIP priorities, compliance with
federal, state or tribal environmental regulations or
reducing the need for future regulations and, to a degree,
the location of the contract. Funded EQIP applications
result in a contract which lists the practices to be applied
along with an application schedule and federal funds
committed. Conservation practices applied with EQIP funds
are to be maintained for the service life of the practice,
which may be longer than the term of the EQIP contract. The
minimum contract length is one year after the implementation
of the last scheduled practice with a maximum length of ten
years. The implemented practices are subject to NRCS
technical standards. Farmers may elect to use NRCS or a
Technical Service Provider for EQIP technical assistance.
Please
give us a call or stop by our office for more program
information and eligibility requirements.
For more
information on EQIP, Please visit:
http://www.ia.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/stateeqip.html
CRP—Conservation Reserve Program:
FSA and NRCS administer the
CRP. This program has two ways to enroll. The General
Conservation Reserve Program is administered by the
Farm
Service Agency (FSA). The program cost-shares
tree
planting and grass establishment on highly
erodible land and pays landowners an annual rental payment
for up to 15 years. Although the date of the next general
CRP sign-up is uncertain; there is also a continuous sign-up
for highly sensitive environmental areas such as
riparian areas adjacent to streams and creek,
bottomland areas, and
living snowfences. Through continuous sign-up,
landowners can find out if land is eligible, find out the
payment they will receive if the land is enrolled and can
sign up at any time. Eligible land is automatically
accepted into the continuous CRP.
Under
the general CRP sign-up landowners can receive around $100
per acre land rental rate and 50% cost-share reimbursement
for installation of the CRP practice
For more
information on CRP visit:
http://www.fsa.usda.gov/
REAP—Resource Enhancement and Protection
Program:
REAP is
a program in the State of Iowa that invests in, as its name
implies, the enhancement and protection of the state's
natural and cultural resources. Iowa is blessed with a
diverse array of natural and cultural resources, and REAP is
likewise diverse and far reaching. Depending on the
individual programs, REAP provides money for projects
through state agency budgets or in the form of grants.
Several aspects of REAP also encourage private contributions
that help accomplish program objectives.
Based on
their submitted proposal and allotment, REAP funds may be
available for soil conservation practices through Soil and
Water Conservation Districts.
For more
information regarding REAP visit:
http://www.iowareap.com/
WHIP—Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program:
WHIP provides cost-share reimbursement for wildlife habitat
practices. A portion of Iowa's WHIP allocation will be set
aside for woodland wildlife habitat improvement. WHIP will
also cost-share on wildlife practices that improve
grasslands, riparian corridors, shelterbelts, windbreaks,
native prairie restoration, and aquatic habitat.
For more
information on WHIP
visit: http://www.ia.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/whip.html
WRP—Wetland Reserve Program:
Iowa landowners are
interested in the wetland restoration programs for both
environmental and economic reasons. The primary reason for
participation is economic. Continuing to farm wet or
frequently flooded marginal soils gives less financial
return than does a wetland easement in a USDA program. Also
important to the farmers entering the programs are the
benefits wetlands give to wildlife and water quality.
Iowa's wetland restoration goal is to reestablish wetland
ecosystems. Restoration activities typically include tile
breaks, ditch plugs, shallow excavations, water control
structures, and seedings of native grasses and forbs.
Under
WRP, administered by the NRCS, landowners can restore
wetlands by signing a permanent easement, a 30-year
easement, or by restoring the land under a restoration cost
share agreement.
For more
information on WRP please visit:
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/wrp/states/ia.html
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