Farm Bill program participation encouraged

The USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service in Kentucky is encouraging landowners, farmers and producers to visit their local NRCS office now to receive more information and apply for conservation technical assistance and possible financial funding opportunities.

The application process for 2008 Farm Bill conservation programs is continuous, with funding selections made at specific times throughout the year. The Kentucky NRCS application ranking cutoff date for consideration of 2012 funds in this signup period is Nov. 15, 2011.

Financial assistance is available to eligible applicants for the following Farm Bill programs:

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program is a conservation program that provides financial and technical assistance to farmers and ranchers who face threats to soil, water, air and related natural resources on their land. Through EQIP, NRCS develops contracts with agricultural producers to voluntarily implement conservation practices.

Persons engaged in livestock or agricultural production and owners of non-industrial private forestland are eligible for this program. Eligible land includes cropland, rangeland, pastureland, private non-industrial forestland, and other farm or ranch lands.

The Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program is a voluntary program for developing or improving high quality habitat that supports fish and wildlife populations of National, State, Tribal, and local significance. Through WHIP, the NRCS provides technical and financial assistance to eligible private and Tribal landowners for the development of upland, wetland, aquatic, and other types of wildlife habitat.

All recipients of assistance are required to develop a Conservation Plan. Landowners should work with a conservation planner to develop the plan based on the landowner’s operational goals to improve the productivity, sustainability and profitability of their operation.

The Conservation Plan will serve as a roadmap to a variety of technical assistance and financial assistance through EQIP, and WHIP, as well as other options available to the landowner, If you are interested in participating Farm Bill conservation programs, you should sign-up as soon as possible and request a conservation plan.

For more information, contact Randy Van Matre, NRCS district conservationist at 502-845-2890.