The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers landowners financial, technical, and educational assistance to implement conservation practices on privately owned land. Using this help, farmers and ranchers apply practices that reduce soil erosion, improve water quality, and enhance forest land, wetlands, grazing lands, and wildlife habitat. Incentives offered by USDA promote sustainable agricultural practices, which protect and conserve valuable farmland for future generations. USDA assistance also helps individuals and communities restore natural resources after floods, fires, or other natural disasters.
The Okmulgee field office of the NRCS-USDA is dedicated to assisting land owners/users with their conservation planning. The soil conservationists will meet with you to discuss your conservation needs and assist in developing the right conservation plan for you. The NRCS has many different programs for which you might apply such as EQIP, WHIP, WRP, ORGANIC EQIP,
The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) works primarily in locally identified conservation priority areas where there are significant problems with natural resources. High priority is given to areas where State or local governments offer financial, technical, or educational assistance, and to areas where agricultural improvements will help meet water quality objectives. Activities must be carried out according to a conservation plan.
EQIP offers contracts that provide incentive payments and cost sharing for conservation practices, such as manure management systems, pest management, erosion control, and other practices to improve and maintain the health of natural resources.
The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program provides financial incentives to develop habitat for fish and wildlife on private lands. Participants agree to implement a wildlife habitat development plan and USDA agrees to provide cost-share assistance for the initial implementation of wildlife habitat development practices. USDA and program participants enter into a cost-share agreement for wildlife habitat development. This agreement generally lasts a minimum of 5 years from the date that the contract is signed.
The Wetlands Reserve Program is a voluntary program to restore wetlands. Participating landowners can establish conservation easements of either permanent or 30-year duration or can enter into restoration cost-share agreements where no easement is involved. In exchange for establishing a permanent easement, the landowner receives payment up to the agricultural value of the land and 100 percent of the restoration costs for restoring the wetland. The 30-year easement payment is 75 percent of what would be provided for a permanent easement on the same site and 75 percent of the restoration cost. The voluntary agreements are for a minimum 10-year duration and provide for 75 percent of the cost of restoring the involved wetlands. Easements set limits on how the lands may be used in the future. Restoration cost-share agreements establish wetland protection and restoration as the primary land use for the duration of the agreement. In all instances, landowners continue to control access to their land.
The EWP Program is a recovery effort aimed at relieving imminent hazards to life and property caused by floods, fires, windstorms and other natural occurences. All projects undertaken, with the exception of the pruchase of floodplain easements, must have a project sponsor. Public and private landowners are eligible for assistance, but must be represented by a project sponsor. EWP is designed for recovery measures to safeguard lives and property as a result of natural disaster. Threats that the EWP Program addresses are termed watershed impairments. These include but are not limited to debri clogged stream channels, indermined and unstable streambanks, jeopardized water control structures and public infrastructures, wind-borne debri removal, and damaged upland sites stripped of protective vegetation by fire or drought.
The Conservation Reserve Program reduces soil erosion, protects the Nation's ability to produce food and fiber, reduces sedimentation in streams and lakes, improves water quality, establishes wildlife habitat, and enhances forest and wetland resources. It encourages farmers to convert highly erodible cropland or other environmentally sensitive acreage to vegetative cover, such as tame or native grasses, wildlife plantings, trees, filterstrips, or riparian buffers. Farmers receive an annual rental payment for the term of the multi-year contract. Cost sharing is provided to establish the vegetative cover practices.
The 2008 Farm Bill highlights the availability of financial and technical assistance to help producers of all commodities meet their conservation goals, including producers transitioning to organic farming and currently certified organic producers. The assistance from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) through the EQIP program helps producers plan and implement conservation practices to allow their organic operations to be environmentally sustainable. EQIP is primarily used to provide financial and technical assistance to implement conservation practices to address soil, water, air, plant, animal, and energy resources. A new organic provision targets organic producers and producers transitioning to organic production:
