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A tractor in the field in Rhode Island

Environmental Quality Incentives Program - Rhode Island

EQIP
Apply by: February 28, 2025

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) provides financial and technical assistance to Rhode Island farmers, forest landowners, oyster growers, ranchers, and urban growers to address natural resource concerns in the Ocean State.

EQIP provides technical and financial assistance to agricultural producers and forest landowners to address natural resource concerns, such as:

  • Improved water and air quality;
  • Conserved ground and surface water;
  • Increased soil health ;
  • Reduced soil erosion and sedimentation;
  • Improved or created wildlife habitat; and
  • Mitigation against drought and increasing weather volatility.

How It Works

NRCS works one-on-one with producers to develop a conservation plan that outlines conservation practices and activities to help solve on-farm resource issues. Producers implement practices and activities in their conservation plan that can lead to cleaner water and air, healthier soil and better wildlife habitat, all while improving their agricultural operations. EQIP helps producers make conservation work for them. Financial assistance for practices may be available through EQIP.  Some producers may also qualify for advance payment.

Benefits

Some of these benefits include:

  • Reduced contamination from agricultural sources, such as animal feeding operations.
  • Efficient use of nutrients, reducing input costs and reduction in nonpoint source pollution.
  • Improved soil health, which mitigates against increasing weather volatility, improves drought resiliency.
  • Implementation of practices that improve carbon sequestration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while building resilient landscapes.

Conservation at Work Videos

Watch how farmers and ranchers across the country are implementing EQIP practices and other conservation activities in our Conservation at Work video series. For example, see how producers are using the nutrient management conservation practice to improve water quality by more effectively using nutrients.

EQIP Initiatives

Targeted EQIP financial assistance is available through several conservation initiatives. See which initiative is available in your state.

EQIP offers grant opportunities through Conservation Innovation Grants, which awards competitive grants that stimulate the development and adoption of innovative approaches and technologies for conservation on agricultural lands.

Technical Assistance

NRCS offers technical assistance at no cost. Producers can use our personalized advice and information, based on the latest science and research, to make informed decisions about their land.

Technical Service Providers (TSP) can help producers plan, design and implement conservation practices or develop conservation activity plans to improve their agricultural operations. For more information on the Technical Service Provider program, visit the TSP page.

Technical assistance is also offered through our Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA) program.

Need a local Technical Service Provider? Visit the locate a TSP page.

How To Get Started

The first step is to contact your local NRCS office. An NRCS conservation planner will schedule a visit to your property. They will walk the land with you to discuss your goals and review any resource concerns. Following the site visit, the conservation planner will develop a conservation plan that includes a variety of conservation practices or activities to address the resource concerns and management goals discussed.

Applications for NRCS conservation programs are accepted on a continuous basis; however, customers should apply by state-specific ranking dates to be considered for the current funding cycle.

  • Find application ranking dates for your state.
  • See payment schedules for your state.
  • See application.

To learn more about EQIP, contact your local NRCS office.

Fact Sheets

EQIP Factsheet 2025 (274.54 KB)
Conservation Incentive Contracts (1.18 MB)

EQIP Data, 2009 - Present

NRCS program data are housed on the Resource Conservation Assessment Data Viewer. EQIP data for FY2009 to the present are available on the EQIP data page. Fiscal year 2014 - 2021 financial assistance data related to EQIP and other NRCS programs are available on farmers.gov.

Related Pages

EQIP CPAs, DIAs, and CEMAs

Learn about EQIP Conservation Planning Activities (CPAs), Design and Implementation Activities (DIAs), and Conservation Evaluation and Monitoring Activities (CEMAs).

A man crouches down and holds soil in two hands.

Applications and Forms

If you’re interested in applying for NRCS conservation programs, contact your local NRCS office. To apply, you’ll have to complete an application as well as have other forms on file.

Two NRCS team members discuss a conservation application.

EQIP in Rhode Island

When you apply for EQIP, you may choose to compete in one or more statewide funding pools, based on the predominant land use and type of conservation project being proposed for funding.

For fiscal year 2025, Rhode Island is prioritizing Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding targeted to help farmers and forest landowners improve their operations' resiliency and productivity. We're also funding National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI) implementation practices targeted at the Sakonnet River and Tomaquag Brook-Pawcatuck River watersheds to address water quality resource concerns identified by state and federal partners.

Rhode Island NRCS also offers farmers and forest landowners streamlined application ranking and approval through Act Now.

Scroll down for a complete list of Rhode Islands' funding pools and the ranking criteria for each.

A farmer and NRCS planner looking at a conservation plan in the field.

Act Now allows NRCS to quickly approve and obligate ranked applications for specific practices in a designated ranking pool when the application meets or exceeds a pre-determined minimum ranking score.

LEARN MORE

Oyster Restoration Initiative

Workers deploying oyster shells from a boat.

NRCS is working with Ocean State oyster growers to help restore oyster reefs to improve water quality, aquatic habitat and the Rhode Island oyster fishery through the Rhode Island Oyster Reef Restoration Initiative.

Rhode Island Water Quality Initiative

View of Long Pond in the Sakonnet River, RI, watershed.

Farmers in the Sakonnet River watershed in Eastern RI and the Tomaquag Brook-Pawcatuck River watershed in Southern RI can apply for funding to address water quality issues through the National Water Quality Initiative. 

Organic Transition Initiative

Rhode Island strawberry fields with mulching, July 1, 2019.

NRCS has set aside funds to help Rhode Island farmers, forest managers, ranchers and urban growers to transition to organic agriculture. 

Funding Pools 

  • General EQIP - The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) provides financial and technical assistance to farmers to address natural resource concerns and deliver environmental benefits like improved water and air quality, conserved ground and surface water, increased soil health, reduced soil erosion and sedimentation, and improved or created wildlife habitat. Funding pools will be broken up by district (location) as follows: Northern (Providence County), Eastern (Bristol & Newport County) and Southern (Washington & Kent County). Each district will have a unique set of programmatic ranking questions based on the local working group’s goals and feedback that was received in that county. 
    • Rhode Island Oyster farmers haul in oyster tray with heavy biofouling from algaes and sponges (photo by JA Macfarlan, RIDEM)

      Oyster Gear Cycling provides financial assistance to aquaculture producers cycling new aquaculture gear with existing production gear in waters where gear biofouling occurs. Due to limited funding availability, fiscal year 2025 contract lengths will not exceed one year when applying under this announcement. In addition, there is a $20,000 Practice Cap in fiscal year 2025 for all applicants that receive an approved contract.

  • Organic growers or farmers transitioning to organic may apply to this EQIP sub-account. Applicants must be registered with the RIDEM Division of Agriculture. This initiative’s purpose is to help producers transition to organic production by implementing practices that aim to improve soil health, reduce erosion, mitigate pollutants from entering the farm, and increase habitat for beneficial organisms. 
Cattle in a field
  • EQIP Conservation Incentive Contracts are a new option under EQIP that focus on addressing the following resource concerns specifically on cropland: field sediment, nutrient, and pathogen loss; soil quality limitations; and source water depletion. EQIP-CIC provides financial assistance to adopt conservation activities on working landscapes and provides annual payments, similar to CSP.
  • National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI) - For fiscal year 2025 we are funding NWQI implementation practices through EQIP for the Sakonnet River watershed and the Tomaquag-Pawcatuck watershed to address water quality resources concerns including, but not limited to, field sediment, nutrient and pathogen loss; source water depletion; and storage and handling of pollutants.
  • National On-Farm Energy Initiative (NOFEI) enables producers to identify ways to conserve energy on the farm through two types of Agricultural Energy Management Plans (AgEMP) for headquarters and/or for landscape, also known as an on-farm energy audit (headquarters and/or landscape). This fund pool also provides financial and technical assistance to help producers implement practices such as, but not limited to, lighting system improvements, irrigation systems, energy efficient building envelopes, and pumping plants.
  • IRA Oyster Reef Restoration State Initiative provides financial assistance to improve water quality and encourage the development of wildlife habitat by implementing conservation practices that create oyster reefs.
  • Drip irrigation system in a high tunnel on Bami Farm in Johnston, RI.

    Urban Agriculture Initiative provides urban and small-scale farmers with technical and financial assistance for a variety of conservation practices to address source water depletion, weather resilience, terrestrial habitat, soil quality limitations, degraded plant condition and concentrated erosion. To be eligible for this funding pool, producers must be in the Priority Urban Area in Rhode Island.

  • EQIP-IRA will help farmers and ranchers apply expanded conservation practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase storage of carbon in their soil and trees. Funding pools will be broken up by district (location) as follows: Northern (Providence County), Eastern (Bristol & Newport County) and Southern (Washington & Kent County) and contain the same programmatic questions across all districts. 

Ranking Questions & Criteria

Below are the FY 2025 ranking questions and criteria for NRCS programs in Rhode Island by funding pool:

Intercropping at Highland Farm on Block Island, RI, June 2021.
NRCS Rhode Island Ranking Criteria for FY2025 (144.84 KB)

Additional Information

More information relating to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program in Rhode Island.

Apply for Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers and non-industrial forest managers.

Learn More

Ready to get started?

Contact your local service center to start your application.

Find Your Local Service Center

USDA Service Centers are locations where you can connect with Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, or Rural Development employees for your business needs. Enter your state and county below to find your local service center and agency offices. If this locator does not work in your browser, please visit offices.usda.gov.

How to Get Assistance

Do you farm or ranch and want to make improvements to the land that you own or lease?

Natural Resources Conservation Service offers technical and financial assistance to help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.

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how to get started

To get started with NRCS, we recommend you stop by your local NRCS field office. We’ll discuss your vision for your land.

NRCS provides landowners with free technical assistance, or advice, for their land. Common technical assistance includes: resource assessment, practice design and resource monitoring. Your conservation planner will help you determine if financial assistance is right for you.

We’ll walk you through the application process. To get started on applying for financial assistance, we’ll work with you:

  • To fill out an AD 1026, which ensures a conservation plan is in place before lands with highly erodible soils are farmed. It also ensures that identified wetland areas are protected.
  • To meet other eligibility certifications.

Once complete, we’ll work with you on the application, or CPA 1200.

Applications for most programs are accepted on a continuous basis, but they’re considered for funding in different ranking periods. Be sure to ask your local NRCS district conservationist about the deadline for the ranking period to ensure you turn in your application in time.

As part of the application process, we’ll check to see if you are eligible. To do this, you’ll need to bring:

  • An official tax ID (Social Security number or an employer ID)
  • A property deed or lease agreement to show you have control of the property; and
  • A farm number.

If you don’t have a farm number, you can get one from USDA’s Farm Service Agency. Typically, the local FSA office is located in the same building as the local NRCS office. You only need a farm number if you’re interested in financial assistance.

NRCS will take a look at the applications and rank them according to local resource concerns, the amount of conservation benefits the work will provide and the needs of applicants. View Application Ranking Dates by State.

If you’re selected, you can choose whether to sign the contract for the work to be done.

Once you sign the contract, you’ll be provided standards and specifications for completing the practice or practices, and then you will have a specified amount of time to implement. Once the work is implemented and inspected, you’ll be paid the rate of compensation for the work if it meets NRCS standards and specifications.