1. Natural Resources conservation service Cost-share Programs Helping People Help The Land

2. USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA)Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA) Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP)Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP)

3. Voluntary Program Available to land owners/operators at no cost. Available to land owners/operators at no cost. Often results in a conservation plan. Often results in a conservation plan. Conservation Technical Assistance

4. A Conservation plan includes: Producers objectives/goals; Aerial photograph of your operation; Soils map and descriptions; Resource inventory; List of your treatment decisions; Location and schedule for applying conservation practices.

5. EQIP EQIP: –Voluntary program that provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers. Sign-Up: –Continuous however, NRCS establishes application “cut off” deadline dates for evaluation and ranking of eligible applications.

6. NRCS: –Works with landowners to develop contracts and implement conservation practices that address environmental natural resource problems and sustain food and fiber. Payments: –Made to producers once practices are completed according to NRCS requirements. EQIP

7. Rates: –Up to 75% cost-share for standard contracts and 90% for beginning, limited resource or socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. Payment limitation: –$300,000 per individual. Contract length: –Minimum 1 year after implementation of last scheduled practice, Maximum 10yrs

8. WHIP Sign up: –Continuous Purpose: –Help landowners or lessees develop and improve wildlife habitat. –Protect, restore, develop or enhance fish and wildlife habitat. Eligible land: –Tribal land, private agricultural, state and federal lands.

9. WHIP Payment Limitation: –50,000/person or legal entity/year. Rates: –Up to 75% cost-share for standard contracts. Up to 90% cost-share for historically underserved. –Applications typically ranked once a year.

10. Conservation Program Eligibility Limited to individuals/entities making less than $1 million/yr average adjusted gross farm income (AGI). Unless 66% or more of the income comes from farming, ranching or forestry. Secretary of Agriculture can waive AGI limit for projects on environmentally sensitive land.

11. Alfredo Muñoz Rangeland Management Specialist alfredo.munoz@tx.usda.gov Thank you for your time 522 Main Street Junction, TX 76849 Phone #: (325) 446-2717 x 3 www.tx.nrcs.usda.gov