The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Office of Agricultural Water Policy (OAWP), which oversees the Florida Best Management Practices (BMP) program, intends to expand the BMP Cost Share Program this year. It’s a program that focuses on the “most effective and practicable on-location means…for improving water quality in agricultural and urban discharges.” The BMP program is offered for ag operations on both a voluntary basis and for those located within a Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP). This includes the BMP Cost Share Program, which aims to assist ag producers and even landowners in implementing BMPs.
As part of the drive to expand the BMP Cost Share Program, OAWP has made some updates to the program. These updates are meant to make the program more accessible, more user friendly, and to increase the scope and depth of funding.
Changes to the BMP Cost Share Program
OAWP announced that they have made three different updates to the BMP Cost Share Program. They are:
- A new webpage for ease of use. This dedicated webpage for the program includes an application portal that can be filled out using a computer or smartphone. It also includes a wealth of information about the program, such as producer eligibility requirements; an explanation of funding percentages; details of project types; information on requesting funding for a new project type, and more.
- Increased funding. OAWP has increased the potential funding percentages for producers who are eligible for the program and who will willingly enter into a confidential data-sharing agreement concerning the performance of the project.
- An approved-projects list. OAWP created a list of the types of projects that would qualify for funding in nutrient management, irrigation management, and water resource protection.
Additional Information on the BMP Cost Share Program
More information on the BMP Cost Share Program can be found on FDAC’s BMP webpages, or at https://www.fdacs.gov/Agriculture-Industry/Water/Agricultural-Best-Management-Practices/BMP-Cost-Share-Program; the application portal can also be found at the above web address.
Other important things to know about the BMP Cost Share Program include:
- OAWP cautions participants not to start work on a project before executing a cost share agreement.
- Funding for the program can match or even overmatch funding from another agency or entity, but the total funding cannot account for more than 90% of the cost of the project; the ag producer receiving the funding will need to pay at least 10% of the costs of the project.
- Cost share percentages vary depending on the benefits to be reaped by the project, though most projects are awarded around 75% of the costs of the project.
- Nutrient management-related project types include dry fertilizer implements, precision ag, liquid nitrogen applicators, conservation tillage, cover crop implements, and other implements.
