10/18/07 Early EQIP deadlines

The Natural Resources Conservation Service has allocated 9.6 million dollars to Idaho for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. NRCS's Bob Bartholomew says tomorrow is the deadline for early EQIP signups. BARTHOLOMEW "What we want to do is take this first group of applicants, those would be folks that have applied basically in the last eleven months and rank those applications and get moving on writing some contracts and getting the money out to our farmers." Bartholomew says they will continue to take applications through November 23 but those signing up by tomorrow get the earliest consideration. Because the federal government is operating under a continuing resolution there might be more EQIP money coming to Idaho. BARTHOLOMEW "Of that 9.6 million we expect to get about two more million somewhere later in the year. Last year we had about 14 million." NRCS is offering four EQIP special initiatives in fiscal year 2008: wildfire recovery, species of concern, tribal lands and energy conservation. 200 thousand dollars will allow NRCS to pay eleven dollars per acre to landowners who defer grazing on wildfire land until October first of next year. The deadline to file for that is October 31st and there's a 25 hundred acre limit. Bartholomew says they anticipate EQIP changes in the new farm bill and that's why they're trying to get producers to sign up now. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott