Yuma Ag & You: Plan ahead to develop a cost-share contract
I’m loving this cooler weather but am sure getting tired of skimming all the leaves, blooms and assorted stuff out of the pool! I’m also hoping there may be a second bloom on the citrus since the wind was really hard on my flowers.
We are getting to the time of the year when growers who have land leveling, irrigation ditch or sprinkler/drip improvements to do on their fields want to get going on the improvements. From now until July 1 is normally the window that growers try to accomplish major projects; the fields are out of produce ready for construction.
If you are not receiving any Natural Resource
Conservation Service payments under an Environmental Quality Improvement Program, you are eligible for the Arizona Agricultural Water Conservation System Credit. The form and instructions are available on the Arizona Department of Revenue website. The types of system changes eligible include: concrete lining of an unlined field ditch; land leveling to remove slope to a precise grade; and Increasing the size of the field ditch to provide a larger irrigation head.
The purchasing of portable sprinkler pipes and pumps are also eligible for the tax credit. A conservation plan needs to be written to describe the work done and the water savings to be accomplished. I am the only one in Yuma County at this time writing these plans. Email me at bobbimc1937@outlook. com if you need a plan for work done in 2021.
The EQIP program through the NRCS provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers to address natural resource concerns and deliver environmental benefits, such as improved water and air quality, conserving ground and surface water, reducing soil erosion and sedimentation and improved or created wildlife habitat.
This voluntary conservation program helps producers make conservation work for them. Together, NRCS and producers invest in solutions that conserve natural resources for the future while also improving agricultural operations.
Through EQIP, NRCS provides agricultural producers with financial resources and one-on-one help to plan and implement improvements, or what NRCS calls conservation practices.
The 2018 Farm Bill introduced EQIP incentive contracts to expand resource benefits to producers through incentive practices such as cover crops, transition to resource-conserving crop rotations and precision agricultural technologies. Every region within a state will have identified high-priority areas and each of these areas will target up to three priority resource concerns by land use.
In addition to the payment for practice implementation, incentive contracts offer annual payments to address operations and maintenance costs as well as forgone income. As most growers are aware, the Yuma Field Office of NRCS has not had permanent staff for several years, but a part-time employee works 20 hours a week. The Yuma Field Office can be reached at 928-782-0860. COVID restrictions are still in place so you must call for an appointment.
The EQIP planning process can be lengthy so it is important to plan ahead for developing a cost-share contract. The maximum payment per contract is $400,000.
Our Yuma County farmers are third, fourth and fifth generation growers on the same land and look forward to future generations continuing the tradition.