USDA INVESTS MORE THAN $10 MILLION TO ASSIST LIMITED RESOURCE AND BEGINNING FARMERS AND RANCHERS

Initiative Expanded Nationwide in Fiscal Year 2006

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12, 2005—The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Bruce Knight today announced more than $10 million in Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funds will be used to assist limited resource and beginning farmers and ranchers nationwide to implement conservation practices on their land.

“Limited resource and beginning farmers and ranchers play an important role in providing a safe, abundant and affordable food supply as they conserve private land,” Knight said. “We expanded the initiative nationwide this fiscal year to help these farmers and ranchers help the land.”

For the first time last fiscal year, NRCS invested $6.8 million in EQIP funds to assist limited resource and beginning farmers and ranchers in implementing conservation practices on cropland and rangeland. Eleven southern states and the Caribbean Area agreed to dedicate up to $500,000 in EQIP funds to increase participation in NRCS voluntary conservation programs through improved outreach efforts to limited resource and beginning farmers and ranchers. Participating states were Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

The funds helped implement conservation practices for limited resource and beginning farmers and ranchers with 100 acres or less of cropland or rangeland. NRCS will offer cost-share rates of up to 90 percent for all conservation practices and a $10,000 limit on each contract for eligible farmers and ranchers. These criteria will remain in effect this fiscal year.

The Limited Resource Farmers Initiative stresses cost-effective and economical conservation practices for erosion control, water management and grazing land management such as livestock watering facilities, fencing and irrigation systems. Limited resource and beginning farmers and ranchers could modify these practices to suit their smaller operations.

Farmers and ranchers interested in learning more about the Limited Resource Farmers Initiative should contact their local USDA Service Center or locate their NRCS office at http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app.

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