11/2/06 Financial Assistance Available

Financial Assistance Available. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. The deadline is quickly approaching to apply for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program or EQIP. This year's deadline is 2 months earlier and NRCS Resource Conservationist, Justin Mount says not to wait. MOUNT: They need to contact their local USDA service center or specifically their NRCS office and we strongly encourage people to call and establish appointments and do not wait until the last day to get an application in the system. The EQIP program is a federally funded program. MOUNT: This is a federally funded program. The NRCS is an arm of the United States Department of Ag so Natural Resource Conservation Service gets their money from the Farm Bill appropriations. So Congress funds this program. According to Mount, producers can get plenty of benefit from the program. MOUNT: The Environmental Quality Incentives Program or EQIP is an opportunity for agricultural producers to address resource concerns. Anything that has to do with the soil, water, plant, animal or air resource concern we can address those. An example may be improving an irrigation system; going from overhead canopy sprinkler system to under canopy. Addressing wildlife habitat, tree and shrub plantings, stream bank stabilization and also there's some management components that applicants can look at for improving their nutrient, pest and irrigation water management. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.