United States Department of Agriculture • Natural Resources Conservation Service • P.O. Box 2890 Washington, DC 20013 • Phone: (202) 720-3210 • Web: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov
For Immediate Release
Jason Miller, Conservation Agronomist, Pierre Phone: (605) 224-2476, ext.5 Jason.miller@sd.usda.gov Colette Kessler, Public Affairs Specialist, Pierre (605) 224-2476, ext. 5 colette.kessler@sd.usda.gov
Cover Crops Incentive Deadline September 28
HURON, SD, September 21, 2007 – The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announces a new incentive for producers to use cover crops for the 2008 crop year. NRCS, in consultation with the State Technical Committee, added a cover crop incentive payment through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Jason Miller, NRCS Conservation Agronomist, Pierre, says cover crops can improve soil quality and extend the grazing season as well as provide many environmental benefits. Cover crops capture and recycle nutrients which will ultimately reduce fertilizer application, increase soil organic matter content, and reduce water runoff and soil erosion. Producers can use cover crops to better manage soil moisture to control salinity and use deep-rooted cover crops to break up compaction layers, explains Miller. “Cover crops could include turnips, radishes, rape, canola, millet, Sudan grass, winter wheat, and the list is long,” says Miller. “The cover crops don’t have to be selected now,” says Miller. "The application is relatively short, he says, but most important is the program is open to producers and the deadline is September 28." The incentive is capped at 160 acres per participant with a minimum of 25 acres. This one-year incentive payment of $12.50 per acre will be made during the 2008 crop year. Miller says producers are not obligated until they sign the approved funding contract sometime this winter. Once a producer has been notified that their application was approved, Miller says, “They would have until spring to develop and finalize a cover crop seed selection and cropping strategy.” Conservation program applications must be signed no later than Friday, September 28, 2007. The form is also online at the SD NRCS web site under “Programs,” then “EQIP” or www.sd.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/2007_EQIP.html. #
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