11/15/05 Cash incentives for green manure crops

Idaho ag producers who plant radish or mustard green manure crops next year not only get the advantages of soil health and pest management but they'll get 50 dollars per acre. The NRCS will pay them upon acceptance of a contract with EQIP, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. As part of the same program producers can get 10-dollars per acre for insect scouting by a certified professional. In both payment programs there are 160 acre limits for contracts up to three years in length. University of Idaho's Rhonda Hirnyck. HIRNYCK "Producers should have other conservation practices they want to do and then add this kind of to their list or their contract probably wouldn't be ranked real high. So they rank them in the county and only the high ranking ones are the ones that get funded. So not everyone may qualify for funding." Hirnyck sees a growing interest in Idaho for green manure crops which are fresh plant material grown on site to incorporate into the soil. HIRNYCK "Not saying that pesticides are going away, I don't think they are but how to use less of them or use them in a more prescribed basis so you have better pest control, you can reduce your costs. You can reduce your pesticide carryover." But to be considered for the incentive producers have to be enrolled in the EQIP program before the November 22nd deadline. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott