Press Releases

Applications for Gulf of Mexico Initiative due March 1

Jackson, Miss., Feb. 1, 2012 – USDA's Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS) is encouraging agriculture 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
http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app?state=MS&agency=NRCS.

For more on GoMI, visit
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/national/home/?&cid=stelprdb1046039