VA Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) by NRCS provides technical and financial assistance to agricultural producers and forest landowners to integrate conservation into working lands. The grant supports a broad range of conservation goals, including improved water and air quality, conservation of ground and surface water, increased soil health, reduced soil erosion, improved or created wildlife habitat, and mitigation against drought and increasing weather volatility. EQIP works through the development and implementation of a conservation plan tailored to the producer's land and conservation goals. Financial assistance for conservation practices may be available, with some producers eligible for advance payment. The program prioritizes various causes such as Conservation Planning Activities, Cropland, Forestry, Livestock, Longleaf Pine, National Water Quality Initiative, On-Farm Energy, Organic growth, StrikeForce initiatives for underserved producers, and Wildlife habitat improvements, among other national and state conservation initiatives.