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Little time to consider Emergency Watershed Protection Program

Farmers with land in a floodplain have little time to consider the Emergency Watershed Protection Program.

Minnesota Agricultural Water Resource Center director Warren Formo says NRCS is administering the federal assistance in response to the many weather challenges of 2019.

“It allows farmers to place under easement, and these are generally permanent easements, land in a floodplain. And they have to be in a county designated as a federal disaster area.”

He tells Brownfield a permanent easement should not be taken likely, but emphasizes farmers only have until December 8th to contact NRCS.

“We’re certainly not encouraging farmers to check this out with any endorsement of the concept of retiring entire farms. But we recognize that these are special times and unique situations.”

Formo says qualifying land that’s given farmers trouble in the past might be a good candidate for the Emergency Watershed Protection Program.

Brownfield interviewed Formo at the Minnesota Farm Bureau annual meeting in Minneapolis Friday.

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