INDIANAPOLIS – Producers in the Indiana portion of the Western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB) have until Jan. 20 to apply to receive funding for implementing conservation practices designed to help reduce nutrient and sediment loading in Lake Erie.

Parts of six counties in northeast Indiana – Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Noble, Steuben and Wells – are in the WLEB. The basin covers nearly 7 million acres in Indiana, northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.

While producers may apply at any time to participate in the program, officials with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) have announced the cutoff date in order to rank applications.

The five-year program is in its second year, though no funding was offered last year, said Kris Vance, acting assistant state conservationist for partnerships with the NRCS Indiana office. A total of $7.8 million is available for Indiana, Michigan and Ohio over the life of the program. Indiana’s share is $2.1 million, she said.

The money is provided through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). The Tri-State RCPP promotes the coordination between NRCS and Indiana State Department of Agriculture partners to implement conservation to landowners in the WLEB, the agencies said in a release. The partners include more than 40 collaborating public and private organizations at the state and local levels.

Cost-share funding for conservation practices such as filter strips, livestock management, nutrient management and habitat planting will be available, Vance said. The amount of cost-share funding depends on the practice, she added.

“This program is about promoting soil health practices, such as no-till and cover crops,” Vance explained. “And it goes beyond soil health. Our goal is to conserve natural resources. These practices help improve production on the land and reduce some of those input costs. Producers can receive free technical assistance and some financing.

“This will help strengthen their farm operations and improve the environment at the same time,” she said. “We’re not just asking you to do this to improve the environment, we also want to help you improve your farm’s operation.”

Whether a producer runs a traditional farm, is an urban farmer or a forest landowner, the goal is to help make conservation practices work for each applicant, Vance pointed out. She recommended speaking with farmers who already participate in NRCS programs to get an idea of how they work and of the benefits to producers.

Program applicants will just be competing for funding with producers in Indiana’s WLEB portion, and not the entire state, she noted.

Vance said she doesn’t know if another cutoff date will be announced this year for the program. “Based on how much participation we have (in the current round), if we still have money left, we’ll do another round,” she said.

In a release, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, who also serves as Indiana Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development, said, “I encourage all Western Lake Erie Basin farmers to look at their operations and determine how they could utilize these funds to continue improving their operations. Every conservation practice implemented makes a difference both here in our state and downstream.”

More than half of the land in the WLEB in used for agriculture, according to the U.S. EPA. Nutrient runoff from farm fields has been cited as one factor in the presence of harmful algal blooms that have appeared in Lake Erie in recent years.

For more information or to submit an application, contact a local district conservationist by visiting www.farmers.gov/service-locator.