The deadline to submit applications for 2024 assistance is Friday, November 17

Walk-in assistance and group discussion about programs and conservation-planning resources available for farmers, ranchers, foresters and ag producers in Hillsborough, Hernando, Pasco and Pinellas counties has been scheduled for Nov. 6 in Brooksville and Nov. 13 in Dover.

Scheduled to attend each event is the local conservationist responsible for educating and helping local interests learn more about assistance through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

The aim is to address natural resource concerns through cost-share and technical assistance programs funded through the U.S. Farm Bill. NRCS’s primary programs are the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP).

The deadline to submit applications for 2024 assistance is Friday, Nov. 17.

At both the Brooksville and Dover meetings, walk-in attendees are welcome from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with a one-hour group discussion about programs and conservation planning scheduled to start at 10 a.m.

Program assistance covers a wide range of natural resource initiatives, including seasonal high tunnels, cover crops and mulching, forestry management plans, prescribed burning, micro-irrigation on cropland, and site prep with tree and/or shrub establishment.

The list also includes livestock watering systems and fencing with prescribed grazing, legume overseeding in pastures, and herbaceous weed treatment (i.e., smutgrass and cogongrass).

The Nov. 6 meeting is at the Brooksville Plant Materials Center,14119 Broad Street.

The Nov. 13 meeting is at the Florida Strawberry Growers Association meeting space, 13138 Lewis Gallagher Road in Dover.

For more information, interests from Hillsborough and Pinellas counties should call the NRCS Service Center in Plant City, at 813-752-1474. For the NRCS Service Center in Brooksville, serving Hernando and Pasco counties, call 352-277-3761, ext. 3.