Environmental Quality Incentives Program
What is it?
One of the largest landowner incentive programs, EQIP offers financial, educational and technical help for conservation practices, such as better managing manure and poultry litter or reducing fertilizer and pesticide use
Who it's for
Farmers, ranchers, forest owners
What landowners get
Financial assistance in the form of cost shares up to 75% and incentive payments; technical help
What landowners do
Implement conservation practices (such as better managing manure and poultry litter or reducing fertilizer and pesticide use) to address pressing needs, including water quality, air quality, wildlife habitat and soil health
Land types covered
Cropland, pastureland, rangeland, forest land
Key Documents
- General EQIP Program Info
- EQIP Final Rule [PDF]
- Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) national listening session feedback
- EQIP livestock emphasis action plan
- National conservation practice standards for EQIP
- State conservation practice standards for EQIP
- 2005 EQIP state ranking sheets and information
News & Publications
04/16/2010
Obama Praised for Saying Conserving Working Lands is
“Right Thing to Do for Our Economy”
03/12/2010
NRCS Special Initiative Could Help Greater Sage-Grouse Avoid ESA Listing
03/19/2009
Improving Water Quality and Dairy Production
10/14/2008
What's in the 2008 Farm Bill for Family Forest Owners?
08/08/2008
Wyoming Rangelands Offer Key Opportunity for Recovery of Declining Birds
Success Stories
Farmers in Conservation Program Fared Better in Ohio Floods
Farmers paid to plant grass and tree buffers to improve water quality in the Lake Erie watershed through the Western Lake Erie Basin CREP fared better than their neighbors during the summer 2007 floods in northern Ohio.
Alameda Rancher and Wildlife-friendly Program Restores Ponds and Helps Rare Animals
Alameda County ranchers are helping conserve California's rich natural heritage while getting some much-needed assistance from the innovative Wildlife-friendly Pond Restoration Program.
Water Quality Project Reaching Out to More Farmers
In Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, farmers are using a special project of USDA's Environmental Quality Incentives Program to improve nutrient use efficiency to protect water quality and reduce money spent on fertilizer.
Making Music, Talking Trees: A Rock Star and Forest Owner Speaks Out
Chuck Leavell is best known in his role as keyboardist for the Rolling Stones, but he's got another gig in Georgia and on Capitol Hill: spokesman for family foresters and what he calls "the invisible forest crisis."
Dairy Owners Find Innovation Is Key to Environmental and Economic Success
In Florida, the Henderson family is leveraging the EQIP program to help the dairy farm address water quality and odor issues.
Bog Turtles Make New Friends: Landowners and Livestock
America's tiniest turtle is getting a boost from landowners in the Northeast, who are using goats, sheep and cows to clear invasive vegetation from overgrown wetland meadows.
Montana Landowners Use EQIP to Advance Conservation of Rare Wildlife
In Montana, landowners are using the EQIP program, one of the largest Farm Bill incentive programs, to help the endangered pallid sturgeon, threatened grizzly bears and wild trout.
Environment, Income and Family Benefit on Organic Dairy Farm
The Forgues and their Vermont dairy farm provide a prime example of how the environment, a dairy's bottom line and a family's way of life can all benefit from shifting from a confinement system to open grazing.
