AMA Conservation Funds Available For Maryland Farmers

Maryland Media Liaison:

Carol Hollingsworth, 443-482-2902

Annapolis, MD, March 26, 2008 --- Jon Hall, State Conservationist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Maryland, announced that Maryland is accepting applications for consideration for financial assistance for applying conservation practices through the FY08 USDA Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) Program. AMA helps producers adopt conservation practices and investment strategies that will reduce or mitigate risks to their agricultural enterprises.

All applications received by April 15, 2008 will receive consideration for AMA funds. On that date, applications received in NRCS offices will be evaluated and ranked according to levels of environmental benefits and available funds. After that date, if additional AMA funds remain, NRCS will evaluate and rank applications on May 15, 2008.

Maryland farmers interested in receiving financial assistance through AMA should immediately contact their local NRCS or Soil Conservation District office, located at USDA Service Centers, for more information on eligible conservation practices, the application process, and receiving conservation assistance through the AMA Program. NRCS has leadership responsibility for implementing AMA.

Information on these programs is available at USDA Service Centers or at www.md.nrcs.usda.gov.

“The Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) Program is a voluntary conservation program for agricultural farmers and producers that provides cost share payments for selected conservation practices,” said Hall. In 2006, NRCS used AMA funds to provide $450,611 in cost share assistance on 1,184 acres on 20 Maryland farms. AMA cost-share assistance was used to assist Maryland producers interested in the transition to organic production.

In Maryland, some of the conservation practices eligible for AMA Program funding are:

• Irrigation – Micro-Irrigation and irrigation water management
• Tail Water Recovery – Storage Facility
• Windbreak/Shelterbelt Establishment
• Prescribed Grazing and associated practices
• Transition to Organic and associated practices
• Soil quality enhancement practices including Conservation Crop Rotation, Residue management No-till and Mulch Till

AMA is available in only 15 states, as designated by the Secretary of Agriculture, where participation in the Federal Crop Insurance Program is historically low. Maryland, along with most of the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic States, was selected to participate in the AMA Program. AMA affords an opportunity for traditional and nontraditional program participants, such as, limited resource, beginning farmers and small farms, to apply for conservation financial assistance.

NRCS is the agency designated by the Secretary of Agriculture as being responsible for program management and leadership for the conservation provisions of AMA. The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) will complete the 'person' determinations and disburse the cost share payments to the participants.

In order to be eligible for AMA Program participation applicants are required to:

• own or control the land,
• implement specific eligible conservation practices,
• meet the Food Security Act 'person' definition, and
• maintain the cost-share practices for the life of the practice.

“AMA strengthens NRCS’s efforts to help Maryland’s farmers comply with environmental standards and encourages sound conservation on agricultural land,” said Mark Rose, NRCS Maryland Assistant State Conservationist for Programs and AMA Program Manager.

AMA Program participants enter into a one to ten year contract period. The Federal cost-share assistance can be up to 75 percent of the cost of an eligible practice.

NRCS is USDA’s lead conservation agency and has worked hand-in-hand with farmers, producers, and landowners for more than 70 years to conserve natural resources on private lands. Maryland’s landowners can learn more about AMA and other Farm Bill Programs by contacting NRCS Maryland offices or by visiting the NRCS Maryland homepage at www.md.nrcs.usda.gov.