USDA to invest $4 million in Arkansas’ migratory bird resurgence

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced that it is now accepting applications from agricultural producers for enrollment in a special Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) sign-up.

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is investing nearly $11 million to support agricultural producers, through the EQIP – Migratory Bird Resurgence Initiative (MBRI), helping to protect and improve natural resources and habitat for migratory birds and other avian species in the Prairie Pothole Region and targeted areas of the Pacific, Mississippi, and Central Flyways. NRCS in Arkansas will provide up to $4 million in financial assistance in fiscal year 2024 for MBRI.

“Creating habitat on private lands in Arkansas’s flyways is vital in sustaining our migratory bird populations as well as building climate resiliency and carbon stewardship on working lands,” said NRCS Arkansas State Conservationist Mike Sullivan.

“Providing migratory birds with more areas to nest and additional food and resting areas for overwintering will lead to improved habitat that not only benefits wildlife but will result in greater natural resource conservation,” he added.

In addition to Arkansas, assistance is available in California, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Texas.

Interested producers should submit applications for EQIP – MBRI financial assistance by May 17, 2024, for funding considerations this year.

Applications for EQIP financial assistance are accepted throughout the year. Specific program deadlines are set for ranking and funding opportunities within each state.