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2003 Environmental Quality Incentive Program

Local Work Group Summary for Estancia

Introduction

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Estancia Field Office (FO) is located in the town of Estancia, approximately 50 miles mostly east and south of Albuquerque, NM. Torrance County makes up the majority of Estancia FO service area, along with a small northeast portion of Bernalillo County, and the southern part of Santa Fe county on its northern boundary. The Manzano Mountains border the west boundary sloping east into the Estancia basin, to the North is South Mountain, to the South Chupadera Mesa, and to the East gently rolling uplands. The basin contains a significant but limited underground water supply furnishing flood, sprinkler, and small-scale drip irrigation. The majority of crops grown in this area are mainly alfalfa hay, corn silage, and some winter wheat for winter grazing. Other crops such as beans, pumpkins, sweet corn, and other vegetable crops are also grown but on a smaller scale. Along with agriculture there has been an expanding suburban (2 to 40 acres size) type development in the NW corner of the service area that continues to expand. The remaining land base is not suitable for cultivation and is used mainly as rangeland and timberland.

Local Work Group

The first official Local Work Group meeting was held on March 4th, 2003.  The Local Work Group were representatives from the Edgewood and East Torrance Soil and Water Conservation Districts, a representative from the Farm Service Agency (FSA) Torrance County Committee, the Santa Fe/Torrance County Executive Director, and Local NRCS representative. The area represented is comprised of southern Santa Fe County, the northeast corner of Bernalillo County, and the majority of Torrance County.  Membership is mainly made up of the local conservation districts, FSA County committee members, FSA CED, and local NRCS personnel.  Other government agencies are invited and welcome to participate. The first stake holders meeting was held on January 15th, 2003. This meeting was held to set a batching period deadline.  A date was established but was later revised to March 14, 2003 in order to comply with a uniform statewide deadline established by NRCS. The second stake holders meeting was held at the Torrance County Fair grounds and identified local priority resource concerns.  The third meeting was the official 1st Local Work Group meeting that reviewed and made recommendations on establishing Local Work Group working procedure, national and local resource priorities, fund distribution, cost document and eligible practices, cost share rates, priority setting, batching periods, and ranking criteria. The Local Work Group agreed that any issues would be discussed and a recommendation would be given by the consensus of the group.

Priority Resource Concerns

Stakeholders meeting was held on February 19, 2003 to re-visit resource concerns and priorities set back in 1997. The concerns as listed below have not changed over the past 5-6 years.  Watershed health is the overall concern.  Specific resource concerns include:

  • Brush/Forest Management
  • Water Conservation
  • Water Availability/Sustainability/Quality
  • Noxious Weed Management
  • Information/Education (to support above concerns)

EQIP can financially assist in conservation practices that benefit watershed health both in irrigated cropland and range/woodlands.

Funding Considerations

The following was accepted to distribute funds based on resource concerns:

  • Irrigated Cropland – 45%
  • Rangeland – 45%
  • Woodland – 5%
  • Animal Feeding Operations/Confined Animal Feeding Operations – 5%

These percentages are established as a ‘general’ rule and not hard lines. Funds will be moved between these priorities based on number of applications in each category and the integrity of applications addressing the resource concerns. The ranking criteria will establish order of funding and degree of environmental benefits.

Cost Docket: Refer to Cost Docket

Eligible Practices: 

A $50K per contract limitation will be set on all practices. The purpose for this is not to allow a single landowner to use all cost share funds if he or she ranks high, leaving other landowners and resource concerns not addressed. Setting a cap will ensure the best distribution of funds to a variety of resource concerns.

Cost Share Rates and Incentive Payments

The Local Work Group recommended all practices be cost shared at a 50% rate, except for the following, which are identified as high priority practices to be at a cost share rate of 75%:

  • Brush Mgt.(314)

  • Range Planting (550)
  • Forest Stand Improvement (666)
  • Irrigation System Trickle (441)
  • Diversion (362)
  • Pest Management (595A)
  • Grade Stabilization Structure (410)

The purpose for the increase in cost share rate to 75% for Brush Mgt. and Forest Stand Improvement is that it was identified as one of the primary resource concerns in the upper reaches of the Estancia Closed Basin Watershed. This practice is a high cost item for private landowners with benefits that improve animal and plant diversity, forest and woodland health, reduction of erosion, and decrease in fire danger.

The purpose for the increase in Diversion and Range Planting to 75% is for the main reason of erosion control. The diversion practice serves as a long-term erosion control structure. Currently, many landowners see the need for erosion structures but are reluctant to install them because they lack the equipment and the cost of hiring or renting does not match our cost document. We have submitted a revised cost for this component and believe that increasing the cost share rate would encourage more people to put in erosion control structures. The range planting falls along the same lines of erosion control. Our area still has many old bean fields that are still eroding. The cost of the seed is well represented in the current cost docket but we feel that seeding critical range areas would be a long lasting conservation practice whose benefits would be long lived.

The Local Work Group also determined that Irrigation system trickle cost share be increased due to the excellent use of water on critical items that may improve additional conservation of soil and water by helping to establish windbreaks and wildlife habitats. Trickle irrigation systems should be 75% to encourage the application of windbreaks and wildlife habitat plantings. The Estancia service area is known for high wind periods and windbreaks is a practice needing promotion.

Pest Management should be 75% due to the Class A and B weeds that are located in our area. This is a high priority concern that needs the additional cost share to motivate landowners to spray weeds. The weeds may exceed the cost to control them exponentially if not handled at that time of planning as a proactive measure.

Ranking Criteria: Refer to individual Ranking Criteria

Ranking criteria worksheets for irrigated cropland and grazing lands have been reviewed and been changed to meet the needs of the priority resource concerns identified for each land use type. 

Timelines and Evaluation Periods

The Local Work Group decided in order to meet the needs of the landowners and their time frames of farming and ranching, the following batching periods were requested:

  • Farms - November 1 Through January 15
  • Ranches- November 1 Through March 15

The above dates are the official batching periods although applications will still be accepted throughout the year.

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