Kansas Ag Connection - USDA Announces $6 Million EQIP Aid to Fire-Affected Farmers

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USDA Announces $6 Million EQIP Aid to Fire-Affected Farmers
Kansas Ag Connection - 03/22/2017

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the availability of more than $6 million in funding to implement practices that will help private farmers, ranchers and forest landowners affected by the wildfires blazing in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

"We have seen the devastating effects of these wildfires on agricultural operations and the funding announced today can help communities of farmers and ranchers start the process of recovery," said Acting Deputy Agriculture Secretary Michael Young. "USDA is here to offer assistance, and I encourage producers who experienced losses to take full advantage of our financial and technical assistance to aid in their recovery efforts and alleviate part of the financial burden caused by these tragic events."

U.S. Senator Pat Roberts said, "I am pleased USDA has acted swiftly to aid producers recovering from the largest wildfire in state history. For many Kansans, the impacts are devastating because the fires not only consumed livestock, grazing lands, and fencing -- but in some cases, homes, machinery, and equipment, too.

"We are still learning lessons from the response to the Anderson Creek fires from last year that can be applied to this response and recovery effort," Roberts added.

The funding, made available by the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), will assist local producers as they begin to restore scorched grazing land, rebuild fencing, protect damaged watersheds, and implement various conservation measures to mitigate losses.

EQIP is a voluntary program that provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers to help plan and implement conservation practices that address priority local and state resource concerns. Producers must submit a complete program application, establish "farm records", and other documentation to support eligibility to be considered for financial assistance through EQIP. Step-by-step assistance can be found at www.nrcs.usda.gov/getstarted.

States will begin accepting applications in the near future. Producers in the affected counties are encouraged to check with their local NRCS service centers for additional information.

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