NEWS

With a November 3rd application deadline right around the corner, Pottawattamie USDA Service Center would like to remind farmers and landowners of the significant funding opportunities within NRCS's Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to establish high-quality habitat for wildlife.

EQIP offers landowners an opportunity to receive a one-time incentive payment to install a wide array of conservation practices that can not only improve soil health and water quality but also create and improve wildlife habitat. Diverse, native habitat is critically important to sustaining healthy populations of wildlife species ranging from monarch butterflies and native bees to game species like pheasant and white-tailed deer.

A few examples of conservation activities available under this program include establishing native prairie, filter strips, contour buffer strips, edge-feathering along timber, planting trees and shrubs, removing undesirable woody brush, or invasive species removal. Other practices available aim to improve the productivity of your cropland by using no-till and cover crops.

Local USDA field office staff can assist landowners and producers with their habitat project every step of the way, for a variety of goals including creating habitat for pollinators, helping reduce erosion, increasing soil health, controlling invasive species, providing quality forage for livestock and making agricultural operations more resilient and productive.

Applications for the EQIP are accepted on a continuous basis, but the cutoff for this current round of funding is November 3rd, 2023.

For more information about EQIP and other assistance available through the USDA Service Center, contact your local Pheasants Forever Biologist, Tabitha Panas at (402) 506-0101 or by e-mail: tpanas@pheasantsforever.org or contact your local USDA Service Center.