$1.3M Available for Organic Agriculture

On May 5, the Natural Resource Conservation Service announced the
set-aside of $50 million for its new 2009 Organic Initiative through
its Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).  Of the $50
million, $1,280,470 is allocated to Georgia.
This Initiative is in its pilot year.  To apply for funds farmers must
sign up between May 11 and May 29, 2009.  The initiative will have a
cut-off of May 29 for ranking purposes.

The program is administered by USDA's NRCS and will be available in
all states and all counties through Conservation District offices.  To
find your local office, go to:
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/about/organization/regions.html.

The Initiative will provide EQIP conservation payments to:

-  farmers just beginning to transition to certified organic production;
-  farmers already in the process of transitioning to certified
organic production;
-  existing certified organic farmers who are transitioning additional
acres or herds;
-  existing certified organic farmers who need to adopt additional
conservation measures to fully address particular natural resource and
environmental concerns; and
-  existing certified organic farmers who want to both transition
additional production and adopt additional conservation measures on
existing certified organic ground (a combination of the third and
fourth bullet point).As provided by law, there is a $20,000 per year
($80,000 over 6 years) payment limit for applications within this
special pool.

There are six "Core" practices that farmers can apply to implement:

1.  Conservation Crop Rotation
2.  Cover Crop
3.  Nutrient Management
4.  Pest Management
5.  Prescribed Grazing
6.  Forage Harvest Management

Farmer applications to this special Initiative will be treated as two
separate ranking pools, one for transitioning farmers without any
current certified organic production, and one for existing certified
organic farmers who are either adding new transitional production or
adopting new conservation measures on existing organic production.  In
both cases, those in these special funding pools will be competing
only against others in the special pool rather than in the much, much
larger general EQIP pool.

As provided by law, there is a $20,000 per year ($80,000 over 6 years)
payment limit for applications within this special pool.

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) will be holding a
call on Friday, May 8, at 1 PM EST to provide updated information and
answer questions on this Initiative.
Call-in information:
Number: 1-978-964-0049
Passcode: 579171#


--
Dr. Teri Hamlin
North Region Agriculture Education
Georgia Department of Education
204C Four Towers University of Georgia
Athens, Ga 30602
706-542-3679 / 706-540-0032
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