Printable Version
For Immediate Release February 1, 2012
Contact: Fritscher, Justin - NRCS, Jackson, MS 601-965-5205, ext.119
Jackson, Miss., Feb. 1, 2012 – USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is encouraging agricultural producers in Harrison and Hancock Counties to apply for assistance through the Gulf of Mexico Initiative (GoMI), a new initiative focusing on improving the water quality of the Gulf.
Producers in the Bayou LaTerre and Rotten Bayou watersheds are eligible. The deadline to participate in GoMI through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is March 1, 2012. Interested producers should visit their local field offices.
"The Gulf of Mexico Initiative encourages the use of conservation practices in Mississippi's coastal rivers and streams," Acting State Conservationist Al Garner said. "The Gulf of Mexico is an important environmental and economic resource of this state, and it is important we help our farmers do their part in improving water quality."
GoMI was launched in December as a way to work with producers in targeted watersheds draining into the Gulf to implement sustainable agricultural systems that will reduce the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment traveling from the farm to the Gulf of Mexico. The initiative is focusing on 16 watersheds across the Gulf states, including Rotten Bayou and Bayou LaTerre in Mississippi.
EQIP is a voluntary conservation program administered by the NRCS. Reauthorized in the 2008 Farm Bill, it supports production agriculture and environmental quality as compatible goals. Through EQIP, agricultural producers may receive financial and technical help with structural and management conservation practices on agricultural land.
To find your local USDA service center, call (601) 296-1173 or visit
For more on GoMI, visit
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all of its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, political beliefs, genetic information, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).
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