|
|
Other Programs
Technical Resources
|
| |
New Jersey NRCS
Conservation Programs
Fiscal Year 2012 practice payment information is now available.
 |
|
This
guide
introduces the assistance
available and describes some of the
requirements for eligibility
and program participation. |
NRCS's
natural resources conservation programs help people:
- reduce soil erosion
- enhance water supplies
- improve water quality
- increase wildlife habitat
- reduce damages caused by floods and other natural
disasters.
Participation in our conservation programs is voluntary. NRCS
accepts requests for assistance and applications for financial assistance
throughout the year. View the tables below or visit your
local NRCS
service center to help determine which programs are right for you.
We want your input. We want our information to be clear. Public
feedback is critical to help us know whether we have been successful in
producing documents that are clear and understandable to everyone that uses
them. Your comments will also help us identify older documents that need to be
revised using plain language. You may send comments by email to
barbara.phillips@nj.usda.gov or by postal mail to:
USDA-NRCS Public Affairs Specialist
220 Davidson Ave. 4th Floor
Somerset, NJ 088732
NRCS Farm Bill Programs
established through the 2008 Farm Bill:
|
Program |
Description |
Who Should Apply |
|
AMA - Agriculture Management Assistance Program |
Reduces the economic risk of adopting new conservation measures. |
Agricultural producers with priority for limited resource, beginning, or full-time farmers. |
|
AWEP - Agricultural Water Enhancement Program |
Financial assistance to adopt practices that address regionally important water quality issues. |
Agricultural producers in the Raritan basin watersheds of Mulhockaway Creek, Spruce Run, Neshanic
River and South Branch/Long Valley. |
|
CSP - Conservation
Stewardship Program |
Rewards agricultural and forestry producers whose operations meet stewardship thresholds. |
Agricultural producers who have already adopted conservation strategies on their farms. |
|
EQIP - Environmental Quality Incentives Program |
Financial assistance to install permanent measures, adopt new management strategies, or develop
activity plans for a wide range of resource concerns. |
Agricultural producers with existing resource concerns. |
|
FRPP - Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program |
Provides financial support to state, local and private (non-profit) farmland preservation efforts. |
State, local and non-profit entities with existing farm protection programs who demonstrate the staff and
financial resources necessary to manage and enforce conservation easements. |
|
WHIP - Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program |
Create or enhance high quality wildlife habitats that support targeted wildlife populations of National, State, and local significance. |
Owners or managers of agricultural lands or lands that are capable of being farmed, who are interested in enhancing wildlife opportunities. |
| WRP
- Wetlands Reserve Program |
Receive payments for restoring and protecting wetlands on private lands. Includes restoration only option, or permanent easements. |
Landowners interested in restoration or long-term protection of lands previously modified by draining or filling. |
^ Back to Top
NRCS
State and National Initiatives:
| Initiative |
Description |
Who Should Apply |
| AWEP - Agricultural Water Enhancement Program |
Requests proposals that focus technical and financial resources on practices that address regionally important water quantity or quality issues. |
State and local units of government, producer associations,
farmer cooperatives, institutions of higher education, and
nongovernmental organizations. |
|
CIG (National) - Conservation Innovation
Grants - National |
Competitive grants up to $1 million to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies on agricultural lands. |
State and local unites of government, producer associations,
farmer cooperatives, institutions of higher education, and
nongovernmental organizations. |
| CIG (State) - Conservation Innovation Grants -
New Jersey |
Competitive grants up to $75,000 to stimulate the
development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches
and technologies on agricultural lands in New Jersey. |
Individuals, state and local units of government, producer associations, farmer cooperatives, institutions of higher education, and nongovernmental organizations. |
|
CCPI - Cooperative Conservation Partnership
Initiative |
Requests proposals that focus on technical and financial
resources on conservation priorities in watersheds and airsheds
of special significance. |
State and local units of government, producer associations,
farmer cooperatives, institutions of higher education, and
nongovernmental organizations. |
| Energy Initiative - Environmental Quality
Incentives Program |
NRCS
and producers develop Agricultural Energy Management Plans (AgEMP)
or farm energy audits that assess energy consumption on an
operation. NRCS
then uses audit data to develop energy conservation
recommendations. |
Agricultural producers who are interested in adopting energy efficient management practices
or installing permanent measures to reduce energy consumption.
|
| Organic Initiative - Environmental Quality
Incentives Program |
NRCS
helps certified organic growers and producers working to achieve organic certification install conservation practices for organic production. |
Agricultural producers who are certified organic or
interested in transitioning to organic production. |
| Seasonal High Tunnel Initiative - Environmental Quality
Incentives Program |
NRCS
helps producers plan and implement high tunnels, steel-framed,
polyethylene-covered structures that extend growing seasons in
an environmentally safe manner. |
Agricultural producers who are interested in managing a seasonal high tunnel system. |
| Water Quality
Initiative - Environmental Quality Incentives
Program |
NRCS will help producers implement conservation and
management practices through a systems approach to control and
trap nutrient and manure runoff. Qualified producers will
receive assistance for installing conservation practices such as
cover crops, filter strips and terraces to address documented
phosphorus, bacteria, and sediment impairments which may be
caused by soil erosion, exposed soil, and lack of riparian
buffers and filter strips. |
Agricultural producers in the in the Upper Cohansey River,
Upper Salem River, and Upper Alloway Creek Watersheds. |
^ Back to Top
USDA
Farm Service Agency Programs
(NRCS provides
technical support):
| Program |
Description |
Who Should Apply |
|
CLP - Conservation Loan Program |
Provides low interest loans for the implementation of conservation practices.
The following requires
Adobe Reader:
Fact Sheet |
Agricultural producers ready to install conservation practices as part of their conservation plan or farm bill contract. |
|
CRP - Conservation Reserve Program |
Annual rental payments and cost-share assistance to convert
farmland to long-term, resource conserving cover. |
Agricultural producers with highly erodible land, marginal pasture, or other eligible farmland. |
|
CREP - Conservation
Reserve Enhancement Program |
Annual rental payments and cost-share assistance to establish eligible conservation buffers on active agricultural lands. |
Agricultural producers interested in grassed waterways, filter strips, field borders or contour buffer strips. |
|
GRP - Grassland
Reserve Program |
Funding to restore and protect private grasslands, pasturelands, and certain other lands while maintaining the areas in grass. |
Agricultural producers with existing grasslands or pasture interesting in long-term commitments to maintain or enhance the grasslands. |
|
SAFE - State Acres
for Wildlife Enhancement |
Annual rental payments and cost-share assistance to establish wildlife-friendly covers on agricultural lands.
The following requires
Adobe Reader:
Fact Sheet
- Conserve Wildlife Foundation
Fact Sheet -
New Jersey Audubon Society
Fact Sheet - Raritan-Piedmont Wildlife Habitat Partnership
Fact Sheet -
Map |
Agricultural producers interested in enhancing wildlife land. |
| For more information about Farm Service Agency Conservation Programs,
please contact your
local FSA Office.
|
^ Back to Top
NRCS Technical Assistance
Programs:
| Program |
Description |
Who Should Apply |
|
CTA - Conservation Technical
Assistance |
Voluntary planning and implementing conservation practices that
address natural resource issues by land owners and users. |
Agricultural producers and owners of agricultural lands, including
forest lands. |
|
GLCI - Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative |
NRCS works with the Garden State Grazing Coalition to support
grazing operations in New Jersey. |
Livestock producers interested in enhancing grazing lands. |
| Watersheds - Watershed Programs |
Planning and project implementation on the watershed level to
improve various resource conditions. |
Units of government. |
^ Back to Top
Other NRCS Programs:
| Programs |
Description |
|
NRI - National Resources Inventory |
A statistical survey of land use and natural resource conditions and trends on U.S. non-Federal lands. |
|
PMC - Cape May Plant Materials Center |
The development, testing and application of plants for various site
conditions. New Jersey hosts the Cape May Plant Materials Center (PMC).
The Center serves a nine-state area, including parts of Connecticut,
Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Long Island- New York, New Jersey,
North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Virginia. |
|
Soil Survey Program |
Provides basic technical information for land users and develops
county soil surveys and the associated interpretation of soil data for
various land uses. |
^ Back to Top
Contact:
Janice Reid, Assistant State Conservationist for Programs, 732-537-6042
< Back to New Jersey NRCS
Home
Last Modified:
May 08, 2012
| |
|
About Us
Back to Top