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Environmental Quality Incentives Program 2004 Sign-up

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EQIP Program Policy (Manual, Notices, Wisconsin Amendments)

Adobe Acrobat Document.Eligible Conservation Practices, Cost-Share Rates and Limits

Microsoft Excel Document.Waste Storage Ranking System

Microsoft Excel Document.Cranberry Ranking System

Available Conservation Practices & Ranking Criteria by county

Adobe Acrobat Document.EQIP Program Fact Sheet

Results from the 2003 Sign-up

 

Conservation Practices

County Level Sign-ups Were Set Locally

Each county in Wisconsin had different signup dates, practices and rates of cost-sharing for conservation. 

Some of the following documents require Microsoft Excel or Adobe Acrobat.

Adobe Acrobat Document.Statewide Eligible Conservation Practices, Cost-Share Rates and Limits

Available Conservation Practices & Ranking Criteria by County for 2004


Waste Storage

EQIP is a competitive program, with projects ranked to fund the most environmentally beneficial projects statewide.  About 20 percent of the EQIP funds that Wisconsin receives will be set aside for waste storage systems. 

Waste storage facilities will be cost shared at a rate of 70 percent.  The cost share limit for a waste storage system is $75,000.

In 2004, Wisconsin received 121 applications for waste storage systems.  Total funds requested in these applications was $7,746,062.  With $4,082,129 in funds that were available, 58 applications were selected for funding.

Adobe Acrobat Document.Map of Waste Storage Signup Projects Funded - 2004

Microsoft Excel Document.Waste storage application ranking system 2004

More information about eligibility for the statewide waste storage signup - 2004


Cranberry Production

The EQIP signup for cranberry production was held on a statewide basis during Fiscal Year 2004.  The official EQIP Signup for Cranberry Production ran from May 24, 2004, through June 25, 2004.  More information about the cranberry production sign-up. 

 

Eligibility

Any farmer engaged in livestock or crop production on eligible land may apply for EQIP. Eligible land includes cropland; rangeland; pasture; private non-industrial forestland; and other farm or ranch lands, as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture.
 

How EQIP Works

Signup and details about eligible practices and costshare rates will be announced each year.  NRCS will evaluate each application, with higher priorities given to applications that use cost-effective conservation practices, address local priorities, and provide the most environmental benefit.

Farmers will develop a conservation plan, if they don’t already have one, for the acreage affected by the EQIP practices. Conservation practices must meet NRCS technical standards. Farmers may elect to use an approved third-party provider for technical assistance, if available.
 

What Are My Chances of Being Funded?

EQIP is a competitive program. Since program inception in 1997, demand for EQIP financial assistance has exceeded the funds available. Typically, NRCS in Wisconsin has been able to fund about 60 percent of the applicants. Because the "bid-down" procedure was eliminated, we expect cost per contract may increase. We estimate approximately two of every five applicants statewide will be successful in securing an EQIP contract this year. Since the signups for most practices are handled on a county basis, individual county results may vary from this statewide average.

Final results for this year's sign up will depend on the number of farmers who apply and the level of funding actually received.

Those applicants who are interested in waste storage should be aware that historically only one in six applications have been successful in Wisconsin.   See the results of the 2003 EQIP Sign-up.
 

Decision Making Process for EQIP

Input from Outside Groups, Agencies, and Citizens: The list of eligible practices in Wisconsin, cost share rates and limits, eligible resource concerns, and scoring criteria for waste storage were developed based on input and recommendations from the Wisconsin State Technical Committee (WSTC). The WSTC is made up of representatives from various agribusinesses, producer groups, conservation organizations, and federal, state, and tribal government agency representatives.

The list of eligible practices for the county wide signups, county scoring criteria, eligible resource concerns, and cost share rates and limits were based on input from the Local Work Groups (LWG). The LWG is made up of county agency staff. Landowners may provide advice and information to the LWG as part of the locally led process.

The priorities set at the state and county level are those that the WSTC and LWG respectively determined were of the greatest need and would have the greatest positive environmental impact. The scoring process at both the state and local level was developed in order to select those projects that would provide the greatest environmental benefit, and therefore provide the greatest public good.

See EQIP Program Policies, Manual, Wisconsin Notices and Amendments for more information on EQIP rules.


Resource Concerns Addressed by EQIP

The resource concerns addressed by applications including waste storage facilities are Surface Water Quality-Animal Waste, Organics, and Pathogens (WS2); Surface Water Quality-Nutrients (WS1); and Ground Water Quality-Animal Waste, Organics, and Pathogens (WG2).  Find out more about the resource concerns that are addressed by EQIP.
 

 

For More Information

If you need more information about EQIP, please contact NRCS at your local USDA Service Center, or your local land conservation department.