This voluntary program is available to landowners producing agricultural commodities, livestock and forest products. The USDA NRCS provides direct financial payments and technical assistance to landowners who implement approved conservation practices, including more than 30 practices that provide or improve habitat for pollinators through structural changes or changes in management practices. Payment rates may change each fiscal year, depending on the estimated implementation cost and estimated forgone income.

At least 5% of funds must target wildlife habitat (Stine et al. 2015). Additional eligibility requirements apply, and payments per producer may not exceed US$450,000 under contracts from 7 February 2014 to 2018. Organic producers may not receive payments in excess of US$20,000 per fiscal year or US$80,000 during a six-year period. Conservation Activity Plans (CAPs) are a form of technical assistance that can also be funded through EQIP payments to technical service providers and do not count toward the payment limitations above. Monarch butterfly conservation efforts may fall under the regional pollinator landscape initiative (USDA NRCS 2015a).

The Monarch Butterfly Habitat Development Project, which targets monarch habitat in the southern Great Plains (South Central) subregion and the Midwest subregion, discusses EQIP as a key incentive program in the Southern Great Plains on grazed lands in native grass cover. This program is also recommended in the Midwest subregion, though to a lesser degree than other incentive programs. Conservation practices under EQIP are intended to convert monoculture grass systems to diverse native grasslands and to improve range management in grazed habitat (USDA NRCS 2015b).

• Stine, A., M. Vaughan, N. Adamson, K. Gill, E. Mäder, C. Shrader, P.J. Barbour, and H. Henry. 2015. Using 2014 Farm Bill Programs for Pollinator Conservation. US Department of Agriculture Biology Technical Note No. 78, 2nd Ed.
• US Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA NRCS). 2015. Environmental Quality Incentives Program. nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/financial/eqip/.
• US Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA NRCS). 2015b. Monarch Butterfly Habitat Development Project. Washington, DC: US Department of Agriculture. 14 pp.

Amount of the Incentive
No more than US$450,000 under contracts between February 7, 2014 and 2018 per producer. Organic producers may not receive payments in excess of US$20,000 per fiscal year or US$80,000 during a six year period.

Related Institutional Objectives or Targets
Loi agricole américaine

Keywords: best practices, direct financial payment, monarch, pollinator, technical assistance