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).
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Oct. 4, 2001
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