Page 12 - October 2020 WCA Ketch Pen

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By: Roylene Comes At Night
NRCS Washington State Conservationist
This year has been challenging yet with dedicated staff and partners like the WA Cattlemen’s Association, we have been able apply conservation despite limited interaction. We are working with other USDA agencies to coordinate the number of staff working in offices so that producers can make appoints and return to doing business in the office. We hope that we will be able to do this soon for all offices.
I understand the importance of face to face interaction for the great conservation work we all do together.
In addition to the challenges of COVID, you now must face the tremendous fires around the state. We have requested additional funds in hopes to complete a sign up for the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) for those that have been impacted by the fires. There are some things you can do to be ready.
1. Each applicant must establish themselves as a USDA customer and obtain all Farm Service Agency (FSA) eligibility requirements by November 20, 2020. Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) determination takes three weeks to be processed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
2. Eligible applications must be received by the annual batching date of November 20th, 2020 to be considered for funding in 2021.
3. Learn about technical and financial assistance available through conservation programs, visit www.nrcs. usda.gov/GetStarted or your local USDA service center.
Since the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has been implementing changes called for in the legislation like streamlining conservation delivery. We have moved towards a one application, one conservation plan, and a one contract approach. We have new tools, including a conservation planning system called Conservation Desktop. The agency also has transitioned to the Conservation Assessment Ranking Tool (CART), that streamlines the process of how
applications are ranked and funded. Before CART, field staff had to answer the same set of questions for every fund pool a farmer applied for, and each fund pool had a separate application. Now field staff answer one set of questions,
and the tool determines
which fund pools the
applicant is eligible for
based on priority resource concerns. Producers will have one contract, regardless of how many programs, practices or fund pools are involved. CART is estimated to eliminate 30,000 duplicate applications nationwide.
Changes to the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and EQIP
Two popular NRCS programs, CSP and EQIP, both also undertook major changes.
CSP is a voluntary program that helps producers maintain and improve existing conservation systems and adopt additional conservation activities to address priority resources concerns. Participants earn annual payments based on conservation performance—the higher the performance, the higher the payment. WA NRCS obligated more than 14 million dollars in CSP contracts in 2020. Some of the changes to CSP include:
• Eligible participants who choose not to renew their initial CSP contract cannot compete for a new contract for two years following expiration of their initial contract.
• Public land associated with other CSP-eligible land that is under the effective control of the applicant and is a working component of the producer’s
ag operation is eligible for enrollment in CSP.
In Washington state, that means a producer’s Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) land is now eligible for CSP.
Ketch Pen www.washingtoncattlemen.org
Roylene Comes At Night
September 2020