Cost-Share Opportunities
USDA offers voluntary programs to landowners and agricultural producers to provide financial and technical assistance to help manage natural resources in a sustainable manner. Through these programs the agency approves contracts to provide financial assistance to help plan and implement conservation practices that address natural resource concerns or opportunities to help save energy, improve soil, water, plant, air, animal and related resources on agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest land. Below you will find some of the most common programs in Wabash County. Visit NRCS for a full list and more details.
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The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
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The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)
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The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
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The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)
Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI)
The Treaty Creek-Wabash River watershed project is focusing on critical areas within Miami and Wabash counties. Click here
for a map of the incorporated areas.
$429,000 will be made available for cost-share in 2021 for landowners within this Wabash River Watershed. A total of $1.5 million will be dispersed in the next 4 years(2021-2024). MRBI uses several Farm Bill programs, including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), to distribute the MRBI funds. As a result, these funds help landowners sustain America’s natural resources through voluntary conservation. Partners include Miami and Wabash County Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs), Wabash River Defenders, The Nature Conservancy, Indiana State Department of Agriculture, Indiana American Water and the City of Wabash. To fill out an application, call the USDA Service Center in Miami or Wabash Counties.
Pony Creek Watershed
This Clean Water Indiana grant began in January 2021 and will end in December 2023. It will focus on three critical areas in the Upper Middle Eel River Watershed, Hurricane Creek, Pony Creek & Sugar Creek. The goal of this grant is to address the impairments within our critical areas, by funding Best Management Practices (BMP’s). Pony Creek Watershed is located just South-east of North Manchester. It roughly stretches from County Rd 100E to N 750W in Huntington County and runs between ST Rd 114 and ST Rd 16. See attached map.
The BMP’s that will be funded are, cover crops, grassed waterways and filter strips. The cap for cost-share on filter strips will be $282/acre. Grassed waterways will be potentially covered at a rate of $8,000/acre & Cover crop payments are set at $20/acre with a cap of 100 acres/producer/year.
If you own or operate land in this area, Wabash SWCD will be taking applications on a rolling basis. No guarantee funds will last all three years. Preference will be given to first time applications, however if you have applied for these programs before, you are still eligible! Apply today!