USDA Agencies Offer Flood Recovery Assistance to Montana Farmers, Ranchers

September 14, 2011

For More Information:
Tim Ouellette, 406-587-6794

Bozeman--Montana farmers and ranchers can sign-up for three programs being offered by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Farm Service Agency (FSA) to assist with flood recovery efforts.

“The flooding disaster Montana experienced this year has left landowners with questions about how to recover from the devastation and how to move on,” said Joyce Swartzendruber, NRCS state conservationist for Montana. “Some lost irrigation diversions and others gained acres of cottonwood seedlings like they never imagined. These programs can give producers other management options to cope with the flood aftermath.”

Swartzendruber and Acting FSA State Executive Director Dick Deschamps said that NRCS and FSA want to work with landowners to find solutions to each unique situation presented by record floods.

Through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), NRCS will be offering both technical and financial assistance for a number of conservation practices that will allow the floodplain to recover from the damages caused by severe flooding. Montana farmers and ranchers have from Sept. 15 to Nov. 1, 2011 to sign-up with NRCS for the current EQIP program

Some areas might be well suited for enrollment in the FSA-administered Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) continuous sign-up. Through CRP, a landowner can receive annual rental payments and cost-share assistance to establish long-term, resource conserving covers on eligible farmland, such as field margins and riparian buffers (the vegetated area next to a river or stream). Certain eligibility requirements still apply, but offers are not subject to competitive bidding. Interested producers can sign-up with their FSA county office anytime for the continuous CRP program.

Landowners interested in permanent easements may be able to enroll wetland acres into the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP). NRCS is looking for sites on agricultural land where former wetlands have been drained, altered, or manipulated. Once under an easement or a contract, the land can no longer be cropped, but haying and grazing may be permissible through a wetland management plan to maintain riparian functions. The first cutoff date for producers to sign-up for WRP at NRCS is Nov. 11, and the second cutoff date will be June 1, 2012.

Producers interested in applying for any of these programs must submit applications through their USDA Service Center, which can be located through the Montana NRCS Web site at Local NRCS Office or the Montana FSA Web site at www.fsa.usda.gov/mt.

--end--

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or a part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer."

< Back to 2011 Environmental Quality Incentives Program

Last Modified: 12/09/2011