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If you are a transitioning farmer (moving toward organic in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd year) and are interested in applying for USDA EQIP funds you should read on... This info was shared by Renee from OEEFA in Ohio. If you are considering applying for EQIP this article has some great tips. Accessing EQIP, and responding to transitioning to organics question Below I'll respond to David Saunders' question about transitioning farmers being able to access EQIP funding. But here's the bottom line: If the county NRCS staff are not helpful, then call the NRCS state -office person who is in charge of EQIP. For Michigan that is Garry Lee, State Conservationist at the following: USDA NRCS STATE OFFICE MICHIGAN STATE OFFICE 3001 COOLIDGE RD EAST LANSING, MI 48823-6349 (517) 324-5100 (517) 324-5168 fax Michigan NRCS State Office <http://www.mi.nrcs.usda.gov> Garry Lee State Conservationist (517) 324-5270 (517) 324-5171 fax [log in to unmask] If you want to locate your county office in Michigan, here is the list: (press control on your keyboard and click your mouse to follow this link. http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app?service=action/1/ServiceCent erSummary/3/NavBar.CompleteOfficeLink Also generally, don't take "no" for an answer until you are satisfied with the answer you get. The National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), through its 1-800-346-9140 (English) and 1-800-411-322 (Spanish) toll free hot-line, can (and want to) help as well. *_Remember many field staff of NRCS may not know as much as you do about this program and special initiative._* The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) wrote a comprehensive explanation of the EQIP organic initiative, some of which is included below. For (even more) detailed information about the program (including an explanation of the 6 core practices, the application process, accessing technical assistance, and so on [pretty much everything-you-need-to-know-about-this-but-were-afraid-to-ask]), go to: http://sustainableagriculture.net/our-work/conservation-environment/orga nic-initiative/ Best, Renee This is our understanding about transitioning farmers: Transitioning farmers can apply to the program without an Organic Systems Plan in place, and the process is this: Farmers wanting to access the funds for transition to organic production through EQIP must apply through their local District County offices. Farmers should go into the offices and speak with a staff person there. If they are unable to assist you then call the state office. The staff person will fill out a "screening worksheet" that determines basic eligibility and priority of the application for NRCS' business tool, ProTracts. The screening worksheet will be available from the District County offices. In order to complete a screening worksheet, transitioning farmers must provide a "written self-certification" (i.e., a document stating their intent to transition to organic production) to develop an Organic Systems Plan (OSP) and implement one or more of the Core 6 practices and/or facilitating practices. For priority determination the categories are as follows: High: Application will result in implementation of at least three of the "Core 6" conservation practices; OR, application will result in implementation of a suite of three or more "Core 6" conservation practices"; OR, application is for development of an EQIP Conservation Activity Plan (CAP) Supporting Organic Transition. (A CAP will pay for the planning part of an Organic Systems Plan.) Medium: Application will result in implementation of at least two of the "Core 6" Management Practices. Low: Application will not result in implementation of any of the "Core 6" Management Practices. The application will then be ranked according to National Ranking Criteria. If a farmer is awarded a contract, s/he will be in contact with NRCS and other technical service providers to determine how to implement practices. It is true that an applicant cannot receive funds for already established practices. However, if you seek to improve/build on those practices, that can still keep you in the running. So, some tweaking can make a difference for your eligibility. The following is for those serious about throwing their hats into the EQIP funding competition--here are the "guts"/pointers (many thanks to NCAT and the NSAC for this guidance). Yes, it's a lot of paperwork, and it may take time educating the people who are signing you up but this can provide some great support for improvements on your farm. 1. KNOW the program, LEARN the lingo. See ATTRA publication Federal Resources for Sustainable Farming and Ranching (http://attra.ncat.org/other.html) for some general background. 2. Fill out the basic application form ASAP and get this into NRCS office before May 29^th ; the form is at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/eqip/PDFs/Blank_EQIP_CCC1200.pdf) *_Even if you don't work out subsequent details regarding a detailed contract you MUST get this in by the deadline to access program funds. So if your serious DO it ASAP._* 3. Get cumbersome eligibility requirements (explained below) out of the way ASAP. This is important because you don't want to go through the work without knowing you are eligible AND you don't want to miss deadline. 4. As stated at the beginning of this email, ASK questions of NRCS field staff, if they are not helpful than call the NRCS state office person who is in charge of EQIP (This is available on-line at: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/contact/ ). Also generally, don't take "no" for an answer until you are satisfied with the answer you get. NCAT through its 1-800-346-9140 (English) and 1-800-411-322 (Spanish) toll free hot-line can help as well. *_Remember many field staff of NRCS may not know as much as you do about this program and special initiative._* 5. Make sure you evaluate the FULL extent of the changes you wish to make to improve conservation, meet organic certification requirements *_AND MOST importantly to make sure you can succeed at organic production (IT'S NOT EASY_*) *Basic Eligibility and FORMS* 1. If you don't have one, get a DUNS number IF YOU intend to apply for more then $25,000 in benefits; this takes some time. Online application is at_: http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/displayHomePage.do_ 2. You must be part of the Farm Service Agency (FSA) database and file some level of farm records. Most commodity growers who access FSA program already are part of this database. A web-base fact sheet for accessing this is http://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/july_attachment.pdf 3. Fill out the basic EQIP application form ASAP, you will need above to do it plus the additional forms Adjusted Gross Income form (CCC-902). There is an income eligibility test. Here's the legal language: /A person or legal entity shall not be eligible to receive any benefit during a crop, fiscal, or program year, as appropriate, if the average adjusted gross non-farm income of the person or legal entity exceeds $1,000,000, unless not less than 66.66 percent of the average adjusted gross income of the person or legal entity is average adjusted gross farm income. The amount of any payment or benefit shall be reduced by an amount that is commensurate with the direct and indirect ownership interest in the entity of each person who has an average adjusted gross income, average adjusted gross farm income, or average adjusted gross non-farm income in excess of the applicable limitation specified./ 4. In order to be eligible a transitioning farmers must provide a "written self-certification" (i.e., a document stating their intent to transition to organic production) to develop an Organic Systems Plan (OSP) and implement one or more of the Core 6 practices and/or facilitating practices (see section below on Core 6 and facilitating practices). Existing certified organic producers will have to provide a copy of their current Organic System Plan (OSP) and agree to implement conservation practices. _______________________________________________ Oeffaco_oeffadirect mailing list [log in to unmask] http://www.oeffa.org/mailman/listinfo/oeffaco_oeffadirect If you would like to access previous postings to the Mich-Organic listserv you can copy and paste the following URL into your browser address bar http://list.msu.edu/archives/mich-organic.html