WV NRCS Announces Additional EQIP Sign-Up

MORGANTOWN, WV, May 14, 2007—The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announces a second Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) ranking period closing on June 1, 2007. “This second ranking period allows West Virginia NRCS to consider funding applicants who applied for the program after the first ranking period closed on December 15, 2006,” said Kevin Wickey, West Virginia State Conservationist. “EQIP is a conservation program for farmers who promote agricultural production and environmental quality as compatible goals.” EQIP offers financial and technical help to assist eligible participants install, or implement, structural, and management practices on agricultural land.

Any eligible landowner in West Virginia may apply at local USDA Service Centers. Applications for EQIP will be evaluated, ranked, and selected until available funding is exhausted. Even though the sign-up for this program is continuous, there is a cut-off date when ranking will occur. Farmers and landowners in West Virginia have until June 1, 2007 to submit an application to be considered for this round of EQIP ranking. Eligible applications submitted for previous ranking periods remain on file for consideration for this ranking period.

Conservation programs under the Farm Bill are voluntary and focus on a variety of natural resource concerns. The goal is to assist producers trying to conserve and protect natural resources on the nation's 1.3 billion acres of private working lands.

For more information please contact your local USDA Service Center, listed in the telephone book under U.S. Department of Agriculture, or your local conservation district. Information also is available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.wv.nrcs.usda.gov/.

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