Ohio Environmental Quality Incentives Program accepting applications Staff report COLUMBUS — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, as the deadline to submit applications for Ohio’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). EQIP is a voluntary conservation program which helps producers make conservation work for them. NRCS provides agricultural producers with financial resources and one-on-one help to plan and implement improvements, or what NRCS calls conservation practices. Using these practices can lead to cleaner water and air, healthier soil and better wildlife habitat, all while improving agricultural operations. Through EQIP, you can voluntarily implement conservation practices, and NRCS co-invests in these practices with you. Together, NRCS and producers invest in solutions that conserve natural resources for the future while also improving agricultural operations.