Emergency Conservation Program (ECP)

Emergency Conservation Program (ECP)

This program may have additional incentives or benefits for those who are underserved. Learn more about our terminology.

 

What is this program?

Offers financial and technical assistance to repair significant damage to farmlands caused by natural disasters and to put in place water conservation methods during severe drought

 

How can I use this program?

To rehabilitate farmland, ECP participants may implement emergency conservation practices, such as:

• Removing debris from farmland (cleanup of wind- or water- deposited debris, such as woody material, sand, rock and trash on cropland or pastureland);
• Grading, shaping or leveling land (filling gullies, releveling irrigated farmland and incorporating sand and silt);
• Restoring fences (livestock cross fences, boundary fences, cattle gates, or wildlife exclusion fence on agricultural land);
• Restoring conservation structures (waterways, terraces, diversion ditches and permanently installed ditching system); and
• Providing emergency water during periods of severe drought (grazing and confined livestock and existing irrigation systems for orchards and vineyards).

 

Who or what is eligible and what are the eligibility requirements?

The FSA County Committee inspects damage to determine if land is eligible for ECP

• Eligible land includes land used for:
  • Commercial farming, ranching and orchard operations
  • Growing nursery stock and Christmas tree plantations
  • Grazing for commercial livestock production
  • Conservation structures such as waterways, terraces, diversions, and windbreaks

• Eligible damage is damage from a natural disaster or severe drought that creates new conservation problems that, if not dealt with, would:
  • Further damage the land
  • Significantly affect the land’s productive capacity
  • Represent damage from a natural disaster unusual for the area (except wind erosion damage)
  • Be too costly to repair without Federal assistance to return the land to agricultural production
• Conservation problems existing before the applicable disaster event are ineligible for ECP assistance

 

Are there any deadlines?

Check with your local FSA office to find out about ECP sign-up periods, which are set by the FSA County Committee

 

Is there anything else I should know?

• Cost-share payments are:
  • Up to 75% of the cost to implement approved restoration practices, and up to 90% for producers who certify as limited resource, socially disadvantaged or beginning farmers/ranchers
  • Limited to $250,000 per person or legal entity per disaster
  • Available as an advance payment of up to 25% of expected cost-share only for the replacement or restoration of fencing
• Technical assistance to fix the conservation problem may also be provided by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

 

How do I apply?

Visit your local FSA office to confirm eligibility and document damage

 

 

 

Page last updated: January 29, 2024