PA Farmers Receive Help From REAP To Install Conservation Practices

Pennsylvania farmers are again investing millions of dollars in their own money to reduce nutrients and sediment entering the state's waterways, said Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff this week as he announced the second round of tax credits through the Resource Enhancement and Protection Program, or REAP.

 

This year, 231 on-farm conservation practices have been completed and more than $1.6 million in REAP tax credits have been awarded through the program. The projects represent a total investment of more than $23 million by farmers.

 

"REAP has proven successful because farmers are actively making changes and improvements in their conservation practices to protect our soils and water supply," said Secretary Wolff. "In these tough economic times, programs like REAP help farmers maintain viable businesses while making critical investments to improve the quality of our environment."

 

The State Conservation Commission approved farmers' REAP applications on a first-come, first-served basis for the $10 million in tax credits available for the 2008-09 fiscal year. The applications included 945 individual conservation best management practices on Pennsylvania farms, and included the purchase of no till planting equipment.

 

These practices are added to the 648 best management practices implemented with the 2007 tax credits.

 

The remaining $8.4 million in tax credits have been committed to projects, however farmers cannot take advantage of them until the projects are completed.

 

REAP was developed in 2007. It allows farmers and businesses to earn tax credits in exchange for implementing best management practices to enhance farm production and protect natural resources.

The program is administered by the State Conservation Commission and the tax credits are awarded by the Department of Revenue.

 

Farmers can receive tax credits of up to $150,000 per agricultural operation for 50 or 75 percent of the total cost of a conservation project, depending on the best management practice implemented. Farmers may also qualify for a 50 percent tax credit to purchase no-till planting equipment.

 

The Department of Environmental Protection estimates it will cost farmers $600 million to install farm conservation practices just to meet federal and state cleanup requirements in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed alone.

 

Watershed Total Maximum Daily Load plans are now being completed for every watershed in the state that will require further reductions in nutrient discharges from both farms and wastewater treatment plants in every part of Pennsylvania.
 

In July the General Assembly and Gov. Rendell approved $1.2 billion in new water infrastructure funding for wastewater plant upgrades, including a voter approved $400 million bond issue which was approved overwhelmingly in November.

 

In November the Joint Legislative Budget and Finance Committee issued a report showing the cost of upgrading the wastewater plants in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed will be over $1.4 billion. (11/24/08 Pa Environment Digest)

 

However, no additional funding was approved for farm conservation practices.

 

The Fair Share For Clean Water Coalition supported both the water infrastructure funding increase and asked the General Assembly and Gov. Rendell to support these additional steps--