Leahy Secures $500,000 For Vermont Soil And Water Quality Under New U.S. Program Twelve farms in Vermont will soon receive federal funding to voluntarily use conservation practices that protect soil and water quality. The funds, totaling about $500,000 for Fiscal Year 2001, were secured by Senator Patrick Leahy and will be distributed by Vermont’s office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS). "Farmers are Vermont’s most valued conservationists," said Leahy. "They deserve our thanks, and assistance, in protecting and maintaining the environment and farmland we collectively treasure throughout our state." These funds are Vermont’s first award from a ten-year, $50 million program -- the Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) program -- created by Leahy last year in federal crop insurance legislation. Targeted to 15 states in which participation in the Federal Crop Insurance Program is historically low, Leahy’s AMA program builds upon existing efforts to provide agricultural producers with incentives to use conservation measures on working lands. The conservation projects will help manage animal waste and stabilize stream banks, two major concerns for water quality protection in Vermont. In the future, AMA awards could also be used to mitigate risk through production diversification, for resource conservation practices including soil erosion and integrated pest management, and for a transition to organic farming. The list of approved applicants includes one farm in Berlin, three in Middlebury, three in Morrisville, one in Newport, one in Rutland, two in St. Albans and one in Williston. To qualify for AMA funding, landowners must have a conservation plan for the area covered in the application. The NRCS will help develop the plan and it will become the basis for formulating the contract. Landowners must agree to maintain cost-shared practices for the life of the practices, which may extend beyond the usual contract period of one to three years. Farmers receive a total cost share of 85 percent: 75 percent from the federal government -- not to exceed $50,000 for each participant for any fiscal year -- and ten percent from the Vermont Department of Agriculture. Signup for AMA is continuous. NRCS' State Conservationist coordinates with the State Technical Committee to determine cut off dates for ranking applications. For more information and applications (form CCC-1200) are available from local USDA Service Centers and on the Web (www.sc.egov.usda.gov).   # # # # # Oct. 4, 2001