I made a phone call to NRDC offices in two different counties. I own property in one, and my growing partner owes property in the other, so it was information only. Both officers I spoke with corrected the deadline and other details that I was told at the sustainability conference I attended last month. The correct deadline for Nebraska property is Oct 21.
The maximum AGI income is $900,000. We both meet that requirement. That is one of 11 questions on the application
The site must currently be producing. It can be vegetables or grass/hay, etc. You need not have sold $1000 on a prior year.
There is no known funding for irrigation, or at least the officer never heard of one in his county. He was knowledgeable in different irrigation techniques. He vaguely remembered something about a pivot somewhere else.
You need not own the property, just have control over it.
Payment is per square foot.
There are different application requirements for businesses and individuals. For example, an LLC would need additional paperwork and a Dun & Bradstreet report.
The FSA must issue a farm tract number first, as it's a key entry on the NRDC application. There was also one other certification that I didn't catch. It is a complicated process that takes at least two weeks, and they only process this on two days of the week. A site visit and aerial photo are part of the process. The potential high tunnel site is carefully selected and documented. I was not sure of this function is performed by FSA or NRDC.
That's all I could gather from our short phone conversation. I called on the last day of the fiscal year so they were busy. It was always a hectic day for me in MIS so I offered to call again.
- Lisa