Description

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is a voluntary conservation program that helps producers make conservation work for their farm. Together, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and producers invest in solutions that conserve natural resources for the future while also improving agricultural operations. NRCS provides agricultural producers with technical assistance through the conservation planning process to develop a plan to address natural resource concerns and improve the environment. EQIP provides agricultural producers with financial assistance and one-on-one help to design and implement improvements, or what NRCS calls conservation practices, based on a conservation plan. Conservation practices create environmental benefits that extend well beyond the farm.

Why this service was designated

EQIP advances the voluntary adoption of conservation practices to promote agricultural production, forest management, and environmental quality as compatible goals. Conservation practices funded through EQIP help producers comply with environmental regulations and improve the condition of soil, water, air, wildlife habitat and other natural resources. The program assists owners and operators of agricultural and forest land with the identification of natural resource problems and opportunities and aids in solving identified problems in an environmentally beneficial and cost-effective manner.

In fiscal year 2022, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) committed over $1.28 billion in conservation solutions for 9,691,508 acres and 32,115 program participants. Conservation practices funded through EQIP generate benefits on the recipient’s land, including improved grazing lands, improved water, and air quality, enhanced or created fish and wildlife habitat, increased soil health and plant conditions, conserved ground and surface water, reduced soil erosion, mitigation against drought and increasing weather volatility, and energy conservation.