Environmental Quality Incentives Program - MO
The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers and non-industrial forest managers to address natural resource concerns
Are you farming or gardening in a city or suburb? Urban agriculture provides critical access to healthy food for local communities, as well as jobs, increased green spaces, and closer community ties.
On This Page
Urban agriculture pioneers are taking action in their communities. As American agriculture continues to grow in new directions, NRCS conservation assistance in Missouri is growing along with it.
Urban agriculture includes the cultivation, processing and distribution of agricultural products in urban and suburban areas. Community gardens, rooftop farms, hydroponic, aeroponic and aquaponic facilities and vertical production are all examples of urban agriculture. Tribal communities and small towns may also be included.
Assistance for Urban Farmers
NRCS offers technical and financial assistance with conservation practices, including:
- High tunnels
- Soil health
- Weed and pest management
- Composting facilities
- Irrigation and water management
Through free technical assistance, NRCS can help you identify your goals and develop a conservation plan.
Contact the NRCS at your local Service Center to learn more. If you need information in a language other than English, we offer free translation services at our Service Centers.
St. Louis Urban Hub Initiative
FY23 Funding Opportunity
Application deadline: Aug. 1, 2023
NRCS in Missouri will accept applications until Aug. 1, 2023, for the EQIP St. Louis Urban Hub Initiative. Applications submitted prior to this date will be assessed and ranked as soon as the applicant has made treatment decisions through a conservation plan.
Based on fund availability, eligible applications that meet a minimum threshold score of 30 will be preapproved immediately, allowing the applicant to ACT NOW. Application assessments below the minimum threshold will be batched and funded in ranking order as funding allows.
The St. Louis Urban Hub Initiative is focused on assisting urban and small farmers within the St. Louis Urban Hub geographical area address resource concerns on their operations. Urban and small farmers provide critical access to healthy food for local communities, as well as jobs, increased green spaces, and closer community ties.
For a map of the area covered by this initiative please see attachment below.
Please contact Sarah Szachnieski, NRCS Urban Conservationist at (314) 457-4746 or sarah.szachnieski@usda.gov for assistance with this initiative.
St. Louis Urban Hub Map.pdf
(417.16 KB)
People's Garden Initiative
FY23 Funding Opportunity
Application deadline: May 23, 2023
People’s Gardens empower communities to participate in local food production and provide diversity and resiliency to the food supply chain. They also teach about the benefits of sustainable, local agriculture and how gardening can foster community collaboration, provide green gathering spaces, and benefit the environment. In order to be eligible for PGI funding, a garden must meet the three criteria below:
- Collaborate with others like USDA agencies, food banks, Girl Scouts, Master Gardeners, conservation districts, etc.
- Grow sustainably, such as use native plant species, rain barrels, integrated pest management, xeriscaping.
- Teach about gardening and resilient, local food systems.
Initiative Overview
USDA renewed the People’s Garden movement in 2022 to:
- Celebrate communities growing fresh, healthy food
- Support a resilient, local food system
- Teach people how to garden using sustainable practices
- Nurture habitat for pollinators and wildlife, and greenspace for neighbors
These gardens incorporate sustainable practices, many of which are rooted in conservation practices that NRCS helps farmers and ranchers with across the country. For example, read more on soil health and the importance of pollinators.
People’s Gardens grow fresh, healthy food and support a resilient, local food system; teach people how to garden using sustainable practices; and nurture habitat for pollinators and wildlife, and greenspace for neighbors to gather and enjoy. People’s Gardens all:
- Benefit the community by providing food, beautification, arts, wildlife habitat, education, green space, tree canopy, recreation, volunteer opportunities.
- Are a collaborative effort involving neighbors, co-workers, food pantries, master gardeners, conservation districts, USDA agencies, veterans, youth organizations, seniors, faith-based groups, or others.
- Incorporate sustainable practices such as rain barrels or micro-irrigation, composting, cover crops, pest management, bat houses or insect hotels, and/or native plants.
- Educate the public about sustainable practices and the benefit of local food systems through signage, classes, events, outreach materials, websites, and youth field trips.
Find People's Gardens in Missouri and across the country and learn how to register as a People's Garden by clicking Watch the People’s Gardens Grow!
Ready to get started?
Contact your local service center to start your application.
How to Get Assistance
Do you farm or ranch and want to make improvements to the land that you own or lease?
Natural Resources Conservation Service offers technical and financial assistance to help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.
To get started with NRCS, we recommend you stop by your local NRCS field office. We’ll discuss your vision for your land.
NRCS provides landowners with free technical assistance, or advice, for their land. Common technical assistance includes: resource assessment, practice design and resource monitoring. Your conservation planner will help you determine if financial assistance is right for you.
We’ll walk you through the application process. To get started on applying for financial assistance, we’ll work with you:
- To fill out an AD 1026, which ensures a conservation plan is in place before lands with highly erodible soils are farmed. It also ensures that identified wetland areas are protected.
- To meet other eligibility certifications.
Once complete, we’ll work with you on the application, or CPA 1200.
Applications for most programs are accepted on a continuous basis, but they’re considered for funding in different ranking periods. Be sure to ask your local NRCS district conservationist about the deadline for the ranking period to ensure you turn in your application in time.
As part of the application process, we’ll check to see if you are eligible. To do this, you’ll need to bring:
- An official tax ID (Social Security number or an employer ID)
- A property deed or lease agreement to show you have control of the property; and
- A farm number.
If you don’t have a farm number, you can get one from USDA’s Farm Service Agency. Typically, the local FSA office is located in the same building as the local NRCS office. You only need a farm number if you’re interested in financial assistance.
NRCS will take a look at the applications and rank them according to local resource concerns, the amount of conservation benefits the work will provide and the needs of applicants. View Application Ranking Dates by State.
If you’re selected, you can choose whether to sign the contract for the work to be done.
Once you sign the contract, you’ll be provided standards and specifications for completing the practice or practices, and then you will have a specified amount of time to implement. Once the work is implemented and inspected, you’ll be paid the rate of compensation for the work if it meets NRCS standards and specifications.
