Delaware Farmers Encouraged to Sign up for Assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program

Sign-up deadline is October 3, 2008

Dover, DE, June 26, 2008—The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Delaware is advising farmers interested in conservation assistance on their farming operations to sign up for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).  This program provides financial and technical assistance to farmers interested in making voluntary improvements to natural resources on land they own or manage.

Federal Grants Provide $5 Million to Protect Water Quality in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

$1.5 million to benefit agricultural producers in Delaware and Maryland

Dover, DE, June 11, 2008—U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Chief Arlen Lancaster today announced that $5 million will be used to fund 11 innovative conservation projects to protect water quality, recycle nutrients and improve wildlife habitat in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Three of the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) projects, receiving $1.5 million in Federal funding, will help farmers in Delaware and Maryland jointly sustain natural resources and maintain agricultural viability to improve their operation within the watershed.

Agencies Team Up to Help Forest Landowners Clean Vital Watersheds

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Delaware Forest Service (DFS) are intensifying their efforts to advance conservation on privately-owned forest lands in an effort to improve water quality throughout Delaware.  “Our renewed emphasis on water quality was sparked by efforts to improve and enhance the health of the Chesapeake Bay, but we’re taking it a step further. We’re focusing our conservation efforts on water bodies statewide,” said Russell Morgan, NRCS State Conservationist in Delaware.