Jan. 18 is the cutoff date for applications to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service for the general sign-up for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program for 2019.

Through the incentive program, NRCS offers financial and technical assistance to address priority resource concerns, including soil erosion, water quality, and habitat degradation. Focus areas include the farmstead, soil management, habitat, forestry, and grazing.

Examples of practices implemented through EQIP include: strip cropping, grassed waterways, forest stand improvement, and manure storage facilities.

NRCS will work with applicants to review potential resource concerns on the land included in the application and to develop a conservation plan to address the identified resource concerns.

Applications accepted after Jan. 18 will be considered in the next sign up. All applications are competitive and ranked based on national, state, and locally identified resource priorities and the overall benefit to the environment.

For more information on applying, go online to http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/ny/programs/financial/eqip/?cid=nrcs144p2_027058.