Background:

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) was reauthorized in the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Farm Bill) to provide a voluntary conservation program for farmers and ranchers that promotes agricultural production and environmental quality as compatible national goals. EQIP offers financial and technical assistance to help eligible participants install or implement structural and management practices on eligible agricultural land.

EQIP offers contracts with a minimum term that ends one year after the implementation of the last scheduled practices and a maximum term of ten years. These contracts provide incentive payments and cost-shares to implement conservation practices. Landowners and operators who are engaged in livestock or agricultural production on eligible land may participate in the EQIP program. EQIP activities are carried out according to an environmental quality incentives program plan of operations. The plan is developed in conjunction with the producer and identifies the appropriate conservation practice or practices to address the resource concerns. All EQIP conservation practices are subject to NRCS technical standards in the Field Office Technical Guide (FOTG) that are adapted to Delaware conditions. The County Conservation District approves the plan.

EQIP may cost-share up to 75 percent of the costs of certain conservation practices. Incentive payments may be provided for up to three years to encourage producers to carry out management practices they may not otherwise use without the incentive. However, limited resource producers and beginning farmers may be eligible for cost-shares up to 90 percent. Program participants may elect to use a certified third-party provider for technical assistance.

An individual or entity may not receive, directly or indirectly, cost-share or incentive payments that, in the aggregate, exceed $450,000 for all EQIP contracts entered during the term of the Farm Bill.

EQIP applications are accepted throughout the year at USDA Service Centers.

The FY-2005 Delaware Environmental Quality Incentives Program was developed using a locally led process. Each county Local Work Groups meet to determine natural resource concerns, discuss local priorities and develop recommendations consistent with local priorities and concerns. The EQIP Subcommittee of the State Technical Committee used the local input to develop program recommendations. The NRCS State Conservationist convened the State Technical Committee to review State priorities and make recommendations on ranking criteria, eligible conservation practices, cost-share rates, incentive payment levels, and funding levels. Based on the recommendations from the Local Work Groups and the State Technical Committee, the State Conservationist has established the following as the FY-2005 Delaware Environmental Quality Incentives Program.

1. Reduction of non-point source pollutants including nutrients, sediment, and pesticides in impaired watersheds consistent with TMDL’s as well as the reduction of groundwater contamination.
2. Agricultural Waste Management Systems - Nutrients, Sediments
3. Integrated Crop Management Systems - Nutrients, Pesticides
4. Planned Grazing Management Systems - Nutrients, Sediments
5. Conservation of ground and surface water resources
6. Irrigation Water Management Systems - Water conservation
7. Reduction of emissions such as particulate matter and volatile organic compounds that contribute to air quality impairment.
8. Agricultural Waste Management Systems - Volatile organic compounds
9. Poultry House Windbreak Management Systems - Particulate matter
10. Reduction in soil erosion and sedimentation from erodible land.
11. Erosion Control Systems - Sediments
12. Promotion of at-risk species habitat recovery
13. Biodiversity Management Systems - Habitat recovery

Last Modified:  12/03/2007 10:26:07 AM

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