An internship with NRCS is not always adventures in the field. You have to pay your dues and attend important meetings like the one in June. On the agenda was ranking the different Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) applications. Under EQIP NRCS will cost share with the farmer or land owner to put conservation practices on the land. As the applications come in from the general public they are categorized under different subaccounts. These subaccounts have specified budgets.
The 2014 Farm Bill allotted over $9.5 m in EQIP funds for the state of Massachusetts. These funds will be spent on things like:
• Farm Energy Efficiency
• Organic Certification Assistance
• Water Quality
• Conservation Activity Plans
• Cropland
• Farmstead
• NE/NY Forestry Initiative
• Pasture and Hayland
I happily note that there is a separate subaccount that has its own line item in the budget for Historically Underserved (HU) individuals. This category is made up of:
• Beginning Farmer
• Limited Resource Farmer
• Socially Disadvantaged Farmer
• Tribal Indians
Because they have been historically underserved; this line allots specific funding for those who qualify for this fund code yet might not make the cut under a general ranking subaccount.
All the players attend this meeting, Planners, District Conservationists and Program Managers from the state office all come together to rank each application in a fair and equitable way. It was an eye opener for me to see the inner workings of the ranking process.
NRCS Internship 