05/15/08 EQIP Part 2

EQIP Part 2. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. It will soon be time to sign up for the Environmental Quality Incentive Program. The deadline is July 15th here in Washington and according to Justin Mount with the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Wenatchee folks shouldn't wait. MOUNT: Applicants need to contact their local Natural Resources Conservation office and let them know they are interested in applying for EQIP and schedule an appointment to have a conservationist come out and do a site visit with them and they can build a competitive application. He urges everyone interested in visiting with your local FSA office to make sure you are in compliance. This year there are some great incentives for fruit growers. MOUNT: The cost incentives we have for the tree fruit industry specifically for moving to reduced risk pesticides we can cost share for up to 3 years at $75 an acre. On mating disruption where growers are not using it, $125 per acre and we will incentivise an annual integrated pest management plan that's formalized with $1000 per year. Mount says you can combine any of the programs for a total contract value over three years, not to exceed $25-thousand. He says a lot of producers try and use the program. MOUNT: In 2008 we were able to use the EQIP program to provide over $800-thousand dollars cost incentives to the north central Washington growers. That's Chelan, Douglas and Okanagan counties and that was across 17 different contracts. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.