2004 Environmental Quality Incentive Program

Local Work Group Summary for Portales

Introduction:

The Portales Field Office Local Work Group area covers two Soil and Water Conservation Districts; Border and Roosevelt, and includes land in both Chaves and Roosevelt Counties.  The area is on the High Plains of east central New Mexico and ranges from the Texas State line on the east to the Pecos River on the west.  The area includes dry cropland, irrigated cropland, and rangeland.  In recent years, many dairies have been established in the area.  Most of the irrigated cropland is served by the Ogallala Aquifer and is experiencing yearly decreases in pumped water yield.  The area receives an average of 13 to 16 inches of annual precipitation and has a 180-day frost-free growing season.  All of the cropland in the area is considered Highly Erodible Land.

Local Work Group: 

The area represented by the Local Work Group comprises approximately 2.17 million acres with about 6% being irrigated cropland, 10% dry cropland, and 84% rangeland.  There are 53 animal feeding operations (AFOs) included in the area.  The Local Work Group invited 38 people to their meeting held on December 16, 2003, and 20 attended.  In addition to supervisors from both SWCDs, the group included New Mexico Game and Fish, USFWS, RC&D, and NRCS.  See the attached Local Work Group attendance sheet.

Priority Resource Concerns: 

Resource concerns were identified by the LWG for the following land uses: Irrigated Cropland, Dry Cropland, Rangeland, and Livestock Manure Management.  Irrigated Cropland concerns include water quality, irrigation efficiency and reduction of aquifer usage.  Dry Cropland concerns include soil erosion from wind and water as well as flooding.  Rangeland concerns include range plant health and composition, water quantity, brush infestation, livestock water availability, grazing management, soil erosion, and Lesser Prairie Chicken habitat.  Livestock Manure Management concerns include sediment basins, lagoon seepage, nutrient management, and manure handling.  Windbreaks will be included in each land use.

The Ground and Surface Water Special Emphasis Area program will be managed independently of normal EQIP and the proposal is attached as a separate document.  Incentive payment amounts and cost-share rates are included on the Roosevelt County Component Cost List.

State Allocation Process:

The land types and acreages provided for the 2003 program were again accepted by the Local Work Group and are shown below:

Funding Considerations:

The funds provided for EQIP will be allocated in proportion to how they are received with the exception of 5% of the total being dedicated to windbreaks.  Funding requests will be ranked according to the ranking criteria developed for each land use and use EQIP funds that were received for that land use.  Should there be insufficient funding requests in any category; the remaining funds will be allocated in direct proportion to the requests received in the other categories.  It is projected that the total funding requests will exceed the available funds.

The EQIP funds will be allocated as follows:

• Irrigated Cropland:       33.1%
• Rangeland:                    28.2%
• Dry Cropland:              20.3%
• Manure Management:   13.4%
• Windbreaks:                   5.0%

These percentages will change if the EQIP funds received by the state are allocated differently than 2003; Dry Cropland – 5%, Irrigated Cropland – 30%, Rangeland – 55%, AFO – 5%.

Cost Docket: 

The attached Roosevelt County Component Cost List shows the accepted cost share rates for all of the practice components and their corresponding conservation practices.  Practices that are not applicable in this area are indicated with a “0” in the Revised Cost column.  Proposed changes in practice costs are shown in the same column.  If data for cost increases or new practices were obtained from neighboring NRCS field offices, they are indicated with color-coded shading.

Eligible Practices:

The attached FY 2003 EQIP Eligible Practices and Rates lists conservation practices that will be eligible for contracts within this Local Work Group area.  Practices with a “0” in the 2004 Cost Share Rate column are not eligible for cost-share.  See below for further explanation of the list.

Cost Share Rate and Incentive Payments: 

The attached FY 2003 EQIP Eligible Practices and Rates list shows the eligible practices with their corresponding cost share rates and incentive payments.  All practices will be cost-shared at 50% with the exception of the following:

• Brush Management (314) – 65%
• Dike (356) – 65%
• Diversion (362) – 65%
• Grassed Waterway (412) – 65%
• Irrigation System, Trickle – Windbreak (441) – 75%
• Terraces – (600) – 65%
• Windbreak/shelterbelt establishment – 75%

Brush Management will be cost-shared at 65% due to the high cost of the practice when large acreages are in need of brush control.  Dikes, Diversions, Terraces, and Waterways will be cost shared at 65% to offset the high cost and limited financial return for the practice.  Windbreaks and the associated Irrigation System, Trickle will be cost-shared at 75% in an effort to encourage the installation of this important conservation practice.  Several practices on the list that will not be cost shared are listed at 0%.  These practices are often a requirement of another cost shared practice.  (i.e. Contour farming is required following the installation of a terrace system.)

Prescribed Grazing and Residue Management, No-Till, are the only practices that will be eligible for incentive payments and cost-shared at 100% for a maximum of three years.  Prescribed Grazing will be eligible only when it is used in conjunction with management to improve Lesser Prairie Chicken habitat.  Interested producers will be required to defer a pasture (640-acre minimum) from domestic livestock grazing for ten months (August 1st through June 30th) to participate.  In addition, a confirmed active lek site must be within two miles of the enrolled acreage.  Residue Management, No-Till will provide incentive only to producers who have not tried no-till in the past.

The development of a Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan (CNMP) will be cost-shared at 100% with a flat rate of $1,000 per plan.

A cost-share rate of 90% will be used for all applicants who self-certify they meet the Limited Resource Producer criteria.  Cost share rates for those applicants who self-certify they meet the Beginning Farmer/Beginning Rancher criteria will be fifteen percent higher than the rate established for non-BF/BR applicants for each practice.

In an effort to increase participation in the program and allow more producers to benefit from EQIP, individual practices within each contract will be limited to $50,000.

Ranking Criteria:

Ranking Criteria Worksheets were developed and reviewed by the local work group for all five identified resource concerns.  Each worksheet reflects the relative importance of the different sections and items therein.  The worksheets are attached.

Timelines, Evaluation Periods: 

The application cut off date for funding in the first evaluation period of 2004 is February 13, 2004.  Applications will be ranked by April 2nd and sent to the Area Conservationist for review.  Due to the requirement of Lesser Prairie Chicken lek sites for ranking rangeland requests, their completion will be delayed.  Ranking of the rangeland requests will be completed as soon as possible following the bird’s mating season, which normally ends in late April.  All contracts will be completed by May 28, 2004 with the possible exception of those on rangeland, which will be completed as soon as possible thereafter.

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