Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)

1. Environmental Quality Incentives Program(EQIP) General EQIP — Most Commonly Used Conservation Practices

2. EQIP supports needs of agricultural operations—traditional and organic—and operations with or without livestock, forestry and wildlife management practices.

3. EQIP offers ideas, solutions, & guidance for successful, sustainable conservation operations.

4. Practices described & shown can be selected & installed after developing a conservation plan designed to address your specific resource concerns.

5. Enhanced EQIP financial assistance is available for agricultural producers with limited resources or individuals who have been historically underserved.

6. Illinois’Most Common EQIP Conservation Practices—General EQIP —

7. Grade Stabilization Structure • Stabilizes the grade & controls erosion: • Prevent formation of gullies, • Enhance environmental quality • Reduces pollution hazards.

8. Grade Stabilization Structure Steel ToewallRock Chute $7,700 (avg. cost) $2,900 (avg. cost)

9. Grassed Waterway • A natural or constructed channel that: • Moves water runoff from terraces & fields • Reduces & prevents gully erosion • Protects, improves water quality

10. Grassed Waterway $2,180.00/Acre – more with grade checks • Includes earthwork, fertilizer, seeding • If needed, tile installed as Subsurface Drainage • New for 2009: Includes additional payment added to promote summer construction

11. Grassed Waterway 2009 payment rate includes $$ to compensate contract holder for lost income on acres; twice the amount of applied waterway are left un-cropped to promote summer construction

12. Subsurface Drainage • Where needed to establish & maintain recommended vegetation; allows grassed waterway to function properly • 6” and smaller: $1.10/foot • 8” tile or larger: $2.39/foot

13. Residue Management Manages amount, orientation, & distribution of crop & other plant residue: Reduces sheet, rill, & wind erosion, Increases soil moisture & soil quality Provides food & cover for wildlife

14. Residue Management • No-till/Strip-Till $15 per acre/per year--up to 3 yrs • “First time no-tillers/strip-tillers” • 400-acre maximum to one farming entity

15. Streambank & Shoreline Protection • Stabilize & protect banks of streams, lakes, reservoirs: • Prevent, control, or minimize loss of land • Maintain flow capacity • Reduce sediment loads • Improve/enhance stream • Riparian corridor

16. Streambank& Shoreline Protection Stone Toe ProtectionRock Riffles $36/ foot of bank – avg cost $2,800 per riffle – avg cost

17. Terrace • An earth embankment, or a combination ridge & channel, constructed across the field slope: • Reduces soil erosion by water • Slows excess water runoff • Eliminates washes • Requires suitable outlet

18. Terrace Terrace - $2.00 per foot – avg cost -- of ridge built (Narrow Base, Broad Base & Grassed Back) Tile & risers listed as Underground Outlet, a separate practice

19. Underground Outlet Diverts surface runoff underground • Includes tubing, surface inlets, & outlet pipe with animal guard • $1.79 to $4.38 per foot of tubing, depending on diameter

20. Tree/Shrub Establishment • Introduces woody plants to an area: • Provides wildlife habitat • Improves water quality • Provides long-term erosion control • Enhances aesthetics • Improves air quality

21. Tree / Shrub Establishment • Site preparation (Heavy) – $94/Acre • Site preparation (Light) – $31/Acre • Tree and Shrub planting – $1,047/Acre • Barefoot tree planting – $ 674/Acre

22. Nutrient Management Budget & supply adequate plant nutrients for optimum crop yield & quality • Minimize movement of applied fertilizer into surface & groundwater • Implement nutrient management plan w/ new or altered operations

23. Nutrient Management • Soil tests on 2.5 acre grids required • $10/acre • $15/acre with VRT • $5/acre to add VRT to an existing plan • Maximum 400 acres per year up to 3 years.

24. Cover Crops Crops for seasonal cover: • Reduce erosion • Increase soil organic matter • Capture, recycle nutrients & moisture in soil profile • Weed suppression • Provide supplemental forage • Minimize & reduce soil compaction • Promote biological nitrogen fixation

25. Cover Crops • Hairy Vetch, cereal rye, annual ryegrass • Average cost – $45/Acre • Includes seed & planting to establish cover crop in fall & chemical or mechanical means to destroy prior to spring planting.

26. Forest Stand Improvement • Assists landowners in managing tree species & stand structure • Initiates forest stand regeneration • Improves wildlife habitat • Heightens forest product quality • Increases carbon storage • Funding is through “Forestland Management Implementation” category (not General EQIP)

27. Forest Stand Improvement Practices include: • Invasive species control $93 – $128/Acre • Crop tree release or thinning $56/Acre • Remove undesirable woody species $75/Acre

28. Upland Wildlife Habitat Management • Provides treatment of upland wildlife habitat concerns: • Landowner identifies objective for conserving a wild animal species • Targets wildlife species • Enhances shelter, cover, & food • Payments vary depending upon specific habitat type desired

29. Thank You! Your County Field Office Helping People Help the Land USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.