Quote:
Originally Posted by PureHarvest
You do not have to be a business or farm. You can sign up as an individual.
The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) in your county has to recognize you as a Farm.
They will assign you a Farm and Tract number if you apply with them (if your land does not already have these numbers). You bring them documents to show that you own some land, and they will go onto the mapping system and find your parcel.
Then you have the beginnings of eligibility with the NRCS to apply for practices through the EQIP program.
You do not have to be zoned agriculture to get a Farm and Tract number. But you will have to be able to show that you were producing some type of crop prior to an NRCS planner coming out to do a site visit when you apply for a cost-share practice.
This could simply be a small plot in your yard/on your land where you had a personal garden last year. There used to be a requirement that you sold $1,000 worth of product in the past, but they did away with that.
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YES to both of what has been said. From what I also understand you don't even have to own your own land... you can show a lease and get one. They started out in some states giving them to Veterans who had an interest in farming (Alabama) I think did that. I highly recommend contacting your NRCS office and having one of their people come out and talk with you. They are very helpful and that is what they are supposed to do. I also recommend getting in touch with your local agriculture extension office as they put out a wealth of info on a regular basis.
Not only did they pay for the hoop house on a 100 grant they paid for the irrigation system. They had an engineer come out and specifically design the system to my needs. I can't say enough about trying to apply and being the squeaky wheel. You are welcome to message me privately if you have more questions.
Rena