Taking Applications Now for New Western Lake Erie Basin Initiative

Source: United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced a new three-year initiative this week to provide accelerated conservation assistance for agricultural producers in the Western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB), which includes land in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) will be used to fund applications. The deadline for submitting WLEB Initiative applications is April 29, 2016.

Together with the projected $36 million in NRCS State EQIP allocations, the WLEB Initiative brings an additional $41 million to the WLEB for a total of $77 million in financial assistance available in the WLEB. These funds will be available for the 3-year period of fiscal years 2016-2018.

In the WLEB Initiative, targeting funds to obtain the greatest environmental benefits will happen in two ways – targeting locales within the basin and giving higher priority to applications containing the most effective systems of conservation practices to address water quality concerns. Applications with 100 percent of the land located within the western basin that contain soils with a high risk for leaching or surface run-off, land with high soil test phosphorus levels, and land with direct drainage to tributaries in the basin will receive priority over applications that do not address these conditions.

Producers in the following counties may apply (some counties have only a small area in the basin):

• Indiana - Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Noble, Steuben, Wells

• Michigan - Branch, Hillsdale, Jackson, Lenawee, Monroe, Washtenaw, Wayne

• Ohio - Allen, Ashland, Auglaize, Crawford, Defiance, Erie, Fulton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Huron, Lorain, Lucas, Marion, Mercer, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Richland, Sandusky, Seneca, Shelby, Van Wert, Williams, Wood and Wyandot

Landowners should make an appointment with their local NRCS office as soon as possible to begin the conservation planning process. USDA Service Center locations are listed online at http://offices.usda.gov  or in the phone book under Federal Government, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Additional information is available on the Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan NRCS websites at www.oh.nrcs.usda.gov, www.in.nrcs.usda.gov, and www.mi.nrcs.usda.gov.

Applications for EQIP submitted by entities, such as farmers applying as a corporation, must register with the Central Contractor Registration (CCR), a process that can take up to 3 weeks.  Information about CCR requirements, including obtaining a Data Universal Number System (DUNS) number, is posted on the NRCS website at www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/farmbill.