KENTUCKY 2005 EQIP OVERVIEW

Kentucky will use 14 different pooling areas for both allocations and rankings. The areas will range from 6 counties to 11 counties and will cover all of Kentucky's 120 counties. These groupings were determined to have similar resource concerns.

One pooling area, area 3, will be divided into two ranking areas for fiscal year 2005. Two counties, Ohio and Hancock, were determined to be different enough in resources and resource concerns to compete separately from the other five counties in pooling area 3. This request came from the local work group and their request will be honored. All of area 3 will use the same ranking sheet.

To include the Locally Led Conservation effort, each different pooling area held local work group meetings to identify and prioritize their natural resource concerns which EQIP can address. Some held stakeholder meetings prior to the work group meetings to gather information from other sources.

The work groups then identified and prioritized the needed practices to address those resource concerns. That prioritized practice information was put into a ranking sheet for that pooling area's use. Kentucky has 14 different sets of ranking criteria, each tailored to the local needs as identified by the local work groups. This information was submitted as the local pooling areas’ proposal for consideration.

A state allocation formula was used to allocate funds to each of the 14 areas. It includes a variety of factors that address items such as number of livestock, number of farms, acres or percentage of prime farmland, water quality concerns, wildlife concerns, etc. These factors take into consideration national and state EQIP priorities and measures. Each of the 14 areas are guaranteed funding (which won't be equal), but there is no guarantee that every county will receive funding. Each pooling area will distribute their funds to their applications based on the ranking criteria for that area. Every county will have the opportunity to compete and receive funding, but there will be no county level allocation.

Prior to the finalization of the pooling areas’ eligible practices, ranking criteria and funding, the Kentucky State Technical Committee was asked to review and make recommendations regarding these.

Kentucky NRCS will establish ranking periods to evaluate (rank) all applications taken (until the end of a given ranking period.) Applications will be funded as ranked as far down the list as the funding will allow. A cut off date will be established by the NRCS state office as to when funds must be obligated. If a pooling area’s funds are not obligated by this date, funds may be reallocated to other pooling areas.

Kentucky will rank all applications according to the following factors (EQIP rule language is denoted by quotation marks.) A brief statement of how these items have been addressed in the state ranking, allocation, or policy follows each item.

1. “The degree of cost effectiveness of the proposed conservation practices.”  Local workgroups considered the cost effectiveness of practices when assigning priority to the practices. Additionally, state policy specifies that certain practices are only to be used when they are the most cost effective to the government practice to address the resource need. The final step in the ranking criteria includes a cost effectiveness calculation where total project cost (not contract cost) is divided by total environmental benefits points so those contracts that are more cost effective will rank higher (low score is better.) Additionally, several practices have cost-share limits and several have variable cost-share rates.

2. “The magnitude of the environmental benefits resulting from the treatment of National Priorities and the priority natural resource concerns reflecting the level of performance of a conservation practice.”  Although it may appear that Kentucky’s ranking criteria is based on practice selection, it is important to understand that the practices were selected and prioritized based on a number of factors including how they address resource concerns. The natural resource concerns that are treated address the EQIP national priorities as listed in the EQIP Final Rule, specifically the national priorities concerning water, soil and wildlife. The concerns have been identified, and practices selected and prioritized, by local work groups, thus making Kentucky EQIP a locally led conservation program. It is believed that all of the practices eligible for EQIP in Kentucky address one or more of the national priorities.

3. “Treatment of multiple resource concerns.”  When prioritizing practices, each local work group took into consideration the number of resource concerns a given practice would likely (in general) address. Because each practice may address a different number of resource concerns on a site-specific basis, the local work groups could only prioritize the practices on a general basis. The prioritization of practices considered the treatment of multiple resource concerns, and those that would most likely treat multiple concerns, were ranked as a higher priority, thus, contracts which include those practices will most often rank higher than those which include practices which may only address single concerns. Additionally, bonus points are given in the ranking to contracts which include multiple practices, (higher points for multiple high-priority practices) which will address (in most cases) multiple resource concerns. Only practices which are truly needed to address a resource concern is to be included in contracts. Selecting practices just to gain points when the practice is not needed is not allowed.

4. “Use of conservation practices that provide environmental enhancements for a longer period of time.” This item was also taken into consideration by local workgroups when prioritizing the pooling areas’ practices. Those practices that provide environmental benefits for a longer duration should end up ranking higher than similar applications with shorter benefit duration conservation practices. In most cases, this will result in optimizing environmental benefits. Additionally, planners are instructed to encourage the use of cost-effective practices that will provide long-lasting environmental benefits.

5. “Compliance with Federal, State, local, or Tribal regulatory requirements concerning soil, water, and air quality, wildlife habitat, and ground and surface water conservation.”  Where identified, practices that will help producers meet regulatory requirements, and/or reduce the potential for future regulations were prioritized higher. One of the primary regulatory issues that farmers face in Kentucky has to do with animal wastes. Kentucky has a significant cost-share program to assist with this effort, so some local work groups may have chosen to rank waste practices lower than one might think, knowing that the state cost-share program addresses this issue and for most farmers, is a better deal.

6. “Other locally defined pertinent factors, such as the location of the conservation practice in relation to an environmentally sensitive area, the extent of natural resource degradation, and the degree of cooperation by local producers to achieve environmental improvements.”  Local work groups take locally defined pertinent factors into consideration when identifying natural resource concerns and the practices (and their priority) needed to address them. The Kentucky allocation formula takes into consideration environmentally sensitive areas, such as impaired streams and water bodies, wildlife issues, where other ongoing programs or efforts may be leveraged, etc. when determining the financial assistance allocations to each pooling area.

Any producer engaged in livestock or crop production on eligible land may apply for EQIP. Eligible land includes cropland, rangeland, pasture land, private non-industrial forestland, and other farm or ranch lands as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture.

Application signup is an ongoing process and can be done online or completed at your local USDA Service Center with NRCS or the Farm Service Agency. Ranking periods are identified and all applications that have been received prior to the ranking period cut-off will be ranked against each other. Applications received after the cut-off date will be held for ranking during the next ranking period.

As always, technical assistance for EQIP will be available to you at no charge through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Beginning this year, you also have the opportunity to select a certified Technical Service Provider (TSP) to perform your technical assistance. TSPs are private sector or public agencies (such as a State agency) who have one or more individuals certified by the NRCS State Conservationist to perform technical services. Technical assistance provided by TSPs is required to meet NRCS’s high technical standards. These individuals will be compensated for their services with EQIP funding.

If you are interested in using a provider other than NRCS, you can see if there is a TSP certified to perform the technical services you need for your EQIP contract by visiting http://techreg.usda.gov and click on "TSP Locator." A list of certified individuals is also available from NRCS Field Offices. Click here to view a TSP fact sheet for more information.

Please contact NRCS at your local USDA Service Center. 

Deena Wheby, Assistant State Conservationist
Phone: 859-224-7350
e-mail: deena.wheby@ky.usda.gov 

Map of 14 pooling areas

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