Pennsylvania farmers who want to use best management practices or purchase on-farm conservation equipment can now apply for 2015-16 Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) Program tax credits.

This is a first-come, first-served program until available funding is gone; there are no application rankings.

REAP is a tax credit program for agricultural producers who install best management practices or make equipment purchases that reduce erosion and sedimentation that impacts Pennsylvania’s streams and watersheds.

The program, administered by the State Conservation Commission, gives agriculture producers an incentive to purchase conservation equipment and materials to better protect the environment.

“Pennsylvania is facing challenging times, particularly with the upcoming 2017 mid-point assessment for our Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan, and it’s up to agriculture to meet the challenge,” said Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding. “The agriculture industry is expected to make 75 percent of Pennsylvania’s total nutrient load reductions, in large part because we show the greatest opportunity for achieving restoration of the bay.”

“We’re doing great work already to safeguard our local waterways, but there’s more work to be done. I encourage farmers to take advantage of the funding REAP provides to help you continue to make conservation-minded capital improvements and management changes,” Redding said.

Private investors may act as a sponsor by providing capital to producers as a project is approved in return for tax credits. Any individual or business subject to taxation through Personal Income Tax, Corporate Net Income Tax, Bank Shares Tax or others is eligible to participate in REAP.

Since the program began in 2007, REAP has awarded tax credits to 3,900 projects totaling $50.7 million. Public and private enterprises investments in REAP have contributed to the conservation projects, worth more than $128 million.

From 2010 to 2014, REAP has helped reduce an estimated runoff of nearly 1.4 million pounds of nitrogen, 84,000 pounds of phosphorus and 9,000 tons of sediment.

Farmers may receive tax credits of up to $150,000 per agricultural operation for 50 or 75 percent of the total project cost. The most common projects approved are for no-till planting equipment, waste storage facilities, conservation plans, nutrient management plans, and protecting heavy animal use areas like barnyards.

Applications for the tax credit program are available on Agriculture’s REAP Program webpage or by contacting Joel Semke at 717-705-4032 or send email to: jsemke@pa.gov.

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