The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced that Friday, Nov. 17 is the deadline to submit applications for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) in Ohio.

EQIP is a voluntary conservation program that helps agricultural producers protect the environment while promoting agricultural production. With EQIP, NRCS conservation experts provide technical assistance to implement environmentally beneficial conservation practices on working agricultural land.

Financial assistance is now available in a variety of agriculture categories such as cropland, forestry, pasture operations, high tunnels, organic, and many more listed on the Ohio NRCS website under “EQIP Application Deadlines.”

To participate in USDA conservation programs, applicants should be farmers or farm or forest landowners and must meet eligibility criteria. Applications signed and submitted to NRCS by the Nov. 17 deadline will be evaluated for fiscal year 2018 funding.

Applications for EQIP submitted by entities such as agricultural producers applying as a corporation must have a DUNS (Data Universal Numbering System) number and an active SAM (System for Award Management) registration status when applying, a process that may take several weeks. Applications cannot be processed without this information. Information on obtaining a DUNS number and registering with SAM is posted online.

To learn more about EQIP or otehr technical and financial assistance available through NRCS conservation programs, visit Get Started with NRCS or visit your local USDA Service Center.