The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), has announced it will be utilizing the Act Now authority, which offers additional flexibilities for eligible Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) applicants interested in applying certain Climate-smart Agriculture and Forestry (CSAF) activities on their cropland or grasslands. The eligible activities for Act Now include most non-ground disturbing activities such as seeding of cover crops, conservation cover, forage and biomass plantings, and filter strips. Nutrient management, conversion from irrigation to dryland, and no-till planting are also included. Prescribed grazing and herbaceous weed control is included on grasslands.
EQIP provides financial and technical assistance to address natural resource concerns and to deliver environmental benefits, such as improved water and air quality, conserve ground and surface water, reduced soil erosion and sedimentation, improved soil health and plant condition, and improved or created wildlife habitat.
Through Act Now, NRCS Nebraska can now pre-approve applications when they meet or exceed the pre-determined minimum ranking score and meet the planning requirements as defined within each project. This allows producers to start conservation projects earlier instead of waiting long periods to know if a project will be funded.
“Under the Act Now authority, eligible applicants receive automatic approval to proceed in the process, eliminating the need to wait for all applications to be ranked and preapproved within a given timeframe,” said NRCS Nebraska State Conservationist, Robert Lawson, adding that this authority allows for applications to have a much shorter turnaround time, with contracts developed in just a few weeks.
Producers do not apply separately for Act Now and will be considered for priority funding when applying for an eligible practice. Program applications are accepted on a continuous basis; however, to be considered during the Fiscal Year 2025 Act Now funding cycle applications must be submitted by May 16, 2025. NRCS Nebraska will begin funding eligible applications in January and continue making funding decisions regularly as funds are available.
Applications are ranked and scored according to local resource concerns, the amount of conservation benefits the work will provide, and the needs of applicants. When the available funding limit through Act Now has been reached, remaining applications will be rolled over to the next funding cycle.
Source : usda.gov