05/14/08 Getting Ready for EQIP

Getting Ready for EQIP. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. It's that time of year again. Are you ready for it? Justin Mount with the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Wenatchee explains. MOUNT: This year's deadline for the Environmental Quality Incentive Program is going to be July 15th in Washington State. And the EQIP program is a way for the Natural Resources Conservation Service to incentivise best management practices for several different land uses. Things like irrigated orchards, irrigated hay lands, rangelands, dry crop lands and forest land. MOUNT: This year specifically we got some targeted cost incentives for the tree fruit industry. Specifically moving to reduced risk pesticides, the use of tower sprayers, low volume sprayers and utilizing a preseason integrated pest management plan that's formalized and put on paper. And also implementing mating disruption technology where it has not been used in the past. According to Mount these incentives are aimed at changing your IPM program. MOUNT: The intent of these practices specifically in the tree fruit industry is to help them migrate away from the organophosphates and the other non-reduced risk pesticides that will be phased out in the coming years. More on the EQIP program tomorrow. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.