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2012 EQIP State Ranking Questions

Every eligible EQIP application received by the application cut-off date will be ranked using the Application and Evaluation Ranking Tool (AERT) by NRCS employees in ProTracts.  Each ranking tool contains National, State, and Local questions.  Applications with the highest ranking score will be funded first.

The state ranking questions were developed with input from the Montana State Technical Advisory Committee.

All ranking tools contain state ranking questions.  Each ranking tool will contain the corresponding land use questions.  The Multiple Land use fund codes will include all of the following questions.  All questions require a yes or no answer.

General questions that apply to all land uses
Dry Cropland
Grazing Land
Irrigated Land
Forest Land

General questions that apply to all land uses.

  1. Could this application assist the producer meet or avoid the need for their animal feeding operations (AFO) to be regulated as a point source under the Clean Water Act and/or Montana Water Quality Act?
  2. Does the proposed project lie in a 16-digit watershed listed on the 303(d)-list identified by NRCS through the determination tool AND does the application propose to address a water quality criteria that is listed as an impairment for the stream?
  3. Does the land offered with this application fall within the boundaries of a local group conservation effort or plan and contracted practices will address the resource objectives of that conservation effort?
  4. Does the application include the contracting of cost-shareable management practice?
  5. If funded, would this be the applicant's first EQIP contract?
  6. Does the application directly benefit sage grouse habitat identified by the MT Fish, Wildlife, and Parks?
  7. Does the application result in the implementation of any one of the following innovative technologies?
    1. Precision agriculture
    2. Nutritional Balancer (NutBal)
    3. Grazing land Spatial Analysis Tool (GSAT)
    4. Rangeland Health Monitoring
    5. Certified Organic farming or ranching
    6. Precision irrigation
    7. Micro irrigation
    8. Dual Nozzles
    9. LEPA or LESA pivot systems
    10. Pivots with panels that use automatic continuous moisture monitoring technologies
    11. Self cleaning fish screens
    12. On-farm composting
    13. Feed Management
    14. Alternative Energy
  8. Conservation Planning: Select one of the following
    1. Does the applicant use a Resource Management System (RMS) conservation plan developed/re-evaluated within the last 5 years?
    2. Does the applicant use a progressive conservation plan developed/re-evaluated within the last 5 years?
  9. Pest Management: Select one of the following
    1. Does the application include the development and implementation of an integrated pest management (IPM) plan for noxious weeds on the impacted non-cropland acres of the operation?
    2. Does the application include the development and implementation of a treatment plan for noxious weeds on the impacted non-cropland acres of the operation?
  10. Critical Species: Select one of the following
    1. Does the application benefit critical fish, wildlife, or plant species and assist the producer meet or avoid the need to be regulated under the Endangered Species Act?
    2. Does the application benefit critical fish, wildlife, or plant species identified as Species of Concern by Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks and the Montana Natural Heritage Program?
    3. Does the application directly benefit fish and/or wildlife species habitat (not covered above)?
  11. Pollinator Species: Select one of the following
    1. Does the application benefit pollinator species through the seeding of pollinator friendly seeding mixes on 1/2 to 5 acres of land? (Seeding must be in accordance with Montana NRCS Biology Technical Note Number MT-20, March 2009.)
    2. Does the application benefit pollinator species through the seeding of pollinator friendly seeding mixes on more than 5 acres of land? (Seeding must be in accordance with Montana NRCS Biology Technical Note Number MT-20, March 2009.)

Dry Cropland

  1. Does the application include the planned treatment of a saline recharge area where the discharge affects someone else's property?
  2. Does the application include the planned treatment of a saline recharge area where the discharge affects your own property?
  3. Does the application result in an improving soil health condition from the benchmark condition as determined from the Soil Condition Index (SCI) worksheet?  (System must result in an SCI of > 0.00 on the offered acres.)
  4. If there is no improvement in the SCI from the benchmark condition, will the proposed plan meet the threshold value for the Montana Crop Diversity Tool of > 3?
  5. Does the application include practices for erosion control, or addressing excessive wind, sheet and rill, or gully erosion on applied acres? (Excessive means above RUSLE "T").  The sum of all erosion sources must be at 'T' or less.

Grazing Land

  1. Does the application include the development and implementation of an NRCS-approved prescribed grazing plan that benefits plant condition, productivity, health, and vigor and will be contracted on 50% or more of the grazing operation?
  2. Does the application include fences or development of off-stream water for the improvement of riparian pastures and to manage livestock access to state or tribal waters in accordance with an NRCS-approved prescribed grazing plan that fully considers riparian health?
  3. Does the application include livestock watering facilities to exclude livestock access to state or tribal waters in accordance with an NRCS-approved prescribed grazing plan that fully considers riparian health?
  4. Does the application include the establishment of improved pastures on cropland for spring and/or fall grazing?
  5. Does the application include the renovation of improved pastures for spring and fall grazing?
  6. Does the application include a 2 year season-long deferred prescribed grazing plan for the recovery of plant and soil resources following wildfires or extended drought?
  7. Does the application include accelerated treatment of native grazing lands?
  8. Does the application include watering facilities on uplands to facilitate improved livestock distribution?
  9. Does the application include installation of watering facilities with consideration for wildlife access?
  10. Does the application utilize fencing of uplands to facilitate upland grazing?
  11. Does the application include practices approved by NRCS Montana as benefitting producers negatively impacted by grizzly bears and/or wolves?

Irrigated Land

  1. Does the application include conversion from a pumped irrigation system to a piped gravity flow system?  No pumps can be included for payment in the contract to receive these points; however, a 15 HP booster pump is allowable in the system as long as there is an overall decrease in HP requirements?
  2. Does the application include irrigation system improvements that will decrease the required pump size by 5 HP or greater?
  3. Does the application include the conversion of a flood irrigation system to a sprinkler irrigation system where the corners will not be flood irrigated?
  4. Will a fish screen be installed at the stream point of diversion?
  5. Does the application include an irrigation project that will produce more than 20% water savings according to a NRCS-approved design?
  6. Does the application include an irrigation project that produces a 15 to 20 percent water savings according to a NRCS-approved design?
  7. Does the application result in direct benefits to irrigation induced erosion from irrigation conveyance systems or farm fields?
  8. If a center pivot is installed, will it cover a full circle (360 degrees)?

Forest Land

  1. Does the application include forest restoration measures on land burned by wildfire within the last 3 years for erosion control, reforestation, or watershed protection?
  2. Is the primary objective of the Forest Stand Improvement insect or disease control to improve forest health or forest management with consideration for growth and yield of forest overstory?
  3. Does the application include wildfire hazard reduction on property than includes a home site/structure, is in a location significant to impacting drinking water supplies, or protecting public infrastructure?
  4. Does the application include wildfire hazard reduction on property that adjoins lands on which a fuel treatment/reduction project has been recently complete or is currently underway?
  5. Does the application include water quality or riparian habitat restoration measures to restore or enhance the watershed on lands not impacted by wildfire in the last 3 years?
  6. Does the application include contracted practices for management of understory? (example - Herbaceous Weed Control or Prescribed Grazing)

< Back to Montana 2012 EQIP Ranking Criteria

Last Modified: 12/13/2011