[OKC] More Conservation Funding for Organic Ag Operations

[Alig, Jennifer L.]

Jennifer Alig

**My email has changed to Jennifer.Alig at deq.ok.gov.**

 

 

From: ok-sus-bounces at lists.oksustainability.org
[mailto:ok-sus-bounces at lists.oksustainability.org] On Behalf Of
Williams, Angela - Pauls Valley, OK
Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2011 12:06 PM
Subject: More Conservation Funding for Organic Ag Operations

 

NRCS ORGANIC INITIATIVE 2011:

*	$50 million has been allocated nationwide for 2011; 
*	The sign-up has been extended to May 20, 2011; 
*	Existing certified organic farmers and farmers transitioning to
organic production are eligible; and
*	The program payment rate for the Organic Initiative is 75% and,
for historically underserved participants, 90%. 

SPECIAL FUNDING POOLS

*         Farmer applications to this Initiative will be treated as two
separate ranking pools, one for transitioning farmers without any
current certified organic production, and one for existing certified
organic farmers who are either adding new transitional production or
adopting new conservation measures on existing organic production.  

*         In both cases, those in these special funding pools will be
competing only against others in the special pool rather than in the
much, much larger general EQIP pool.  

*         As provided by law, there is a $20,000 per year ($80,000 over
6 years) payment limit for applications within this special pool.

TIMING AND DEADLINES

*         The deadline for the 2011 Organic Initiative sign-up is May
20, 2011.

*         EQIP is a continuous sign-up program.  That means that farmers
may submit applications to the program at any time.  During the course
of the year, NRCS establishes cut-off dates for ranking and award
purposes.  Applications that come in after cut-off dates go into the
pool for the next round.

ELIGIBILITY

The Initiative provides EQIP conservation payments to existing certified
organic farmers and those transitioning to organic production.  These
include:

*	farmers just beginning to transition to certified organic
production; 

*	farmers already in the process of transitioning to certified
organic production; 

*	existing certified organic farmers who are transitioning
additional acres or herds; 

*	existing certified organic farmers who need to adopt additional
conservation measures to fully address particular natural resource and
environmental concerns; and 

*	existing certified organic farmers who want to both transition
additional production and adopt additional conservation measures on
existing certified organic ground (a combination of the third and fourth
bullet point). 

HOW THE APPLICATION PROCESS WORKS

To sign up, farmers must go to their local field office
<http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app?service=page/CountyMap&stat
e=OK&stateName=Oklahoma&stateCode=40>  and speak with a staff person
there.  They will have to fill out an NRCS-CPA-1200 application
<http://forms.sc.egov.usda.gov/efcommon/eFileServices/eForms/NRCS-CPA-12
00NRCS-CPA-1200.PDF>  to sign up officially; whatever information
farmers cannot fill out on their own, they should fill out with the help
of NRCS staff.

Existing Organic Farmers

Applicants that are existing organic farmers will have to submit a copy
of the current Organic System Plan (OSP) with their application.  NRCS
will use the OSP to verify compliance with provisions in the statute and
as the basis for the EQIP Plan of Operations.  The applicant must also
provide the name and contact information of the USDA-accredited
certifying agent for the operation.

Farmers Transitioning to Organic Production Systems

Applicants who are transitioning to organic production will have to
submit a "self-certification" letter that includes a statement that the
applicant "agrees to develop and implement conservation practices for
certified organic production that are consistent with an organic system
plan" and the name of the USDA-accredited certifying agent contacted to
begin the certification process.

 

 

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/news/releases/2011/organics_applications_4.2011
.html 

 

 

Angela Williams

USDA-NRCS 

105 N. Indian Meridian

Pauls Valley, OK  73075

(405)238-6544 Office

(405) 238-0687 Mobile

 

P Think Green - please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to

 

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