Report Recommends Improvements to EQIP to Serve More Farmers

A new report from the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy, Costly versus Cost-effective: How EQIP can be improved to serve more farmers and the climate, suggests reforms to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). The report found that more than $182 million in EQIP funding for 2023 was spent on 10 practices designed for large-scale farms, leaving less EQIP money for lower-cost practices with greater conservation impact. The authors suggest that redirecting funds to other practices would result in fewer EQIP applicants being turned away and in more farmers being able to build climate resilience and reduce emissions on their farms. For example, the study suggests that funding silvopasture systems or conservation cover rather than anaerobic digesters would spread the program’s positive impact further.