Rhode Island State Technical Committee Meeting Notes

September 6, 2006

USDA Conference Room

Warwick, RI

Attending: Rob Swanson, FSA; Vicky Drew, Joe Bachand, Justin Tuthill, Chris Modisette and J. Eric Scherer, RI NRCS; Kris Stuart, Southern RI Conservation District; Ken Ayars, RI DEM Division of Agriculture; Liz Scott, RI DEM, OWR; Michael Pezza, State Committee, USDA, FSA: and Tom Sandham, Eastern RI Conservation District; Rick Pace, EcoAssets; Loren Thurn, RI Ag Council; Al Bettencourt, RI Farm Bureau; Ton Abbott, RI DEM, DFE; Gene Pepper, RI DEM, Division of Ag; Greg Modesto, US FWS; Stephen Del Pozzo, SRICD.

Introductions, Review Agenda, and Opening Comments

Eric Scherer on behalf of Roylene Rides at the Door, NRCS-RI State Conservationist, welcomed everyone and thanked them for attending.  Mr. Scherer briefly reviewed the agenda (attached).  Kris Stuart, SRICD asked that she be able to present the summary report for the Conservation District’s livestock survey.

Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)

Vicky Drew, EQIP program Manager presented written draft copies of the proposed EQIP guidelines for 2007.  She reviewed the recommend changes as follows:

• Application deadline is December 1st, 2006.

• Eligibility Requirements are due in January.

• ACTION ITEM:  Jeanne to get a flyer together with the new EQIP deadlines for outside agencies to disperse.

NOTE:  A copy of a letter from Stu Nunnery (RICAPE) was provided to the Team to ‘reinforce’ RICAPE’s connection with the Team to assist with the outreach efforts for the FY 2007 Farm Bill programs.

•  Team is in support of the deadline for EQIP, but is flexible if the NRCS cannot meet it.

• Producer Eligibility / Beginning Farmer / Limited Resource Farmer

• ACTION ITEM:  Change wording to require Ag. Producers to provide information for 2005 or for the 12 months prior to December 1, 2006 if $2500 cannot be met by 2005 data.

• Team agrees to keep $1000 minimum for Limited Resource Producer.

• Sustainable Forest and Wildlife Management
   

  • ACTION ITEM:   Change wording to remove products produced or sold in the “previous year”.
     

  • ACTION ITEM:  Check forest eligibility to determine if standing forestland can qualify as products that “could have been sold” to meet producer eligibility; Plan should say that production will occur at some point.
     

• New or Expanding Livestock Operations
   

  • Team agreed to leave the policy decisions unchanged.
     

• Irrigation and Irrigation Water Management Plan
   

  • Team agreed to leave the policy decisions unchanged.

  • Tom Sandham at ERICD has flow meter available for use.
     

• Cost Share Conservation Practices  
   

  • ACTION ITEM:  Make title more discernable for practices with conditions.
     

• Deer Fencing
   

  • Team is not ready to make a decision on the 5000 ft contract limit.

  • ACTION ITEM:  Change ranking to eliminate Deer Fencing Quality Criteria when producers are already implementing pest management and soil erosion practices.
     

• Cost Sharable Conservation Practices on Private Non Industrial Forest Land
   

  • Team has agreed to be more flexible on forestland.

  • ACTION ITEM:  Review Sustainable Forest and Wildlife Management document to determine if changes can be made so that it more closely resembles DEM Forest management regulations

  • (i.e. Site Index and Tree/Shrub Establishment).
     

• 2007 Cost List

• Components for each practice were added to adapt contracts to specific sites and make them more compatible with reporting software.

Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP)

Joe Bachand, WHIP Program Manager, presented draft changes to the WHIP Policy for the STT review:

• Grassland Habitat has a new 15 acre minimum

• Clearing second growth forestland/shrubland can only be done if the land was previously grassland prior to 1976.

• There will be a meeting at the Grange in Exeter on Stream Continuity Project next month.

• ACTION ITEM:  Send out Grange meeting notice.

• ACTION ITEM:  Check cost list for cost per unit errors.

 Farm Viability  (RI DEM))

Ken Ayars, Chief, Gene Pepper, RI DEM, Division of Agriculture presented a report on the results of on-farm monitoring of pollutants and chemicals in RI:

• BMP monitoring project is being implemented at Cottrell Farm and in the past year, the water quality data has shown a remarkable decrease in the levels of certain pollutants.

• Triazine Herbicide monitoring project is being implemented in the Newport Watersheds.  Early results are encouraging as farmers are responding to changing levels of applications and responding lower levels are being seen in samples taken.

Southern Rhode Island Conservation District

The Southern Rhode Island Conservation District implementing a study looking at livestock operations and phosphorous loading in the Saugatucket Watershed.   They have been able to identify a number of livestock operations otherwise not known before and have been able to provide these operations with information on programs available to them on manure management.

 USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA)

Rob Swanson, Director of the USDA FSA office passed out a flyer that stated that USDA designated RI as an Agricultural Disaster Area and that low interest loans were available to producers.  He also indicated that the Emergency Conservation Program was also providing $100,000 in funds to producers.  A flyer was passed out to the group.

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