EquinePlanner
New Member
USDA Assistance for Equine Operations
What Assistance is Available?
*Short-term contracts to assist producers and/or landowners with applying conservation practices such as prescribed grazing, stream buffers, nutrient management, and watering systems, where there is a resource concern to be solved.
*Technical assistance to help producers carry out the conservation practices
*Practice payments to reduce the cost to the farm operation
How Do I Know if I Qualify as a Producer?
*The applicant or the operator must be an agricul¬tural producer engaged in the production of live¬stock or other agricultural products and must have produced at least $1,000 annually on the applicant’s farming operation
*Owners of farms who are not the operator may qualify
*New and beginning producers may receive a higher payment rate and may receive advanced practice payments of up to 30% for materials for construction when work can begin immediately. New and beginning producers are those who have not had a farming enterprise continuously for the past 10 years. If a farmer has filed a Schedule F with their federal income tax return for the past 10 consecutive years, the farmer is not considered new or beginning. All partners in the operation must meet the new and beginning farmer criteria
What Producers May Not Qualify?
*Producers who only board horses or only have horses for pleasure
*Producers who have had a previous EQIP contract cancelled based on a lack of adequate perfor¬mance
How and When Does a Producer Apply?
*Contact a local USDA NRCS office at Natural Resources Conservation Service, under Find a Service Center
*Request a conservation plan
*Complete an application for one of the cost share or incentive programs
*The programs have a continuous signup
*Contracts are awarded until funding is gone
Maryland NRCS
FYI: There are No Costs for this service.
For More Information Contact:
Sara Lewis
Maryland Department of Agriculture
Soil Conservation Planner Regional Equine Specialist
Email: Sara.Lewis@md.nacdnet.net
Office: 301-475-8402 Ext.115
Cell: 240-925-2397
What Assistance is Available?
*Short-term contracts to assist producers and/or landowners with applying conservation practices such as prescribed grazing, stream buffers, nutrient management, and watering systems, where there is a resource concern to be solved.
*Technical assistance to help producers carry out the conservation practices
*Practice payments to reduce the cost to the farm operation
How Do I Know if I Qualify as a Producer?
*The applicant or the operator must be an agricul¬tural producer engaged in the production of live¬stock or other agricultural products and must have produced at least $1,000 annually on the applicant’s farming operation
*Owners of farms who are not the operator may qualify
*New and beginning producers may receive a higher payment rate and may receive advanced practice payments of up to 30% for materials for construction when work can begin immediately. New and beginning producers are those who have not had a farming enterprise continuously for the past 10 years. If a farmer has filed a Schedule F with their federal income tax return for the past 10 consecutive years, the farmer is not considered new or beginning. All partners in the operation must meet the new and beginning farmer criteria
What Producers May Not Qualify?
*Producers who only board horses or only have horses for pleasure
*Producers who have had a previous EQIP contract cancelled based on a lack of adequate perfor¬mance
How and When Does a Producer Apply?
*Contact a local USDA NRCS office at Natural Resources Conservation Service, under Find a Service Center
*Request a conservation plan
*Complete an application for one of the cost share or incentive programs
*The programs have a continuous signup
*Contracts are awarded until funding is gone
Maryland NRCS
FYI: There are No Costs for this service.
For More Information Contact:
Sara Lewis
Maryland Department of Agriculture
Soil Conservation Planner Regional Equine Specialist
Email: Sara.Lewis@md.nacdnet.net
Office: 301-475-8402 Ext.115
Cell: 240-925-2397
