The Natural Resources Conservation Service office in conjunction with the Butler County Conservation District will hold a fertilizer planning workshop at the Butler USDA service center from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan 21.

The workshop will utilize an easy-to-complete spreadsheet that uses manure analysis and soil sample records to determine the remaining fertilizer requirements by field. This spreadsheet accurately accounts for manure applications, which can significantly reduce remaining fertilizer applications.

Producers interested in attending the workshop should take a copy of their current soil sample records less than three years old and, if applicable, manure analysis.

This is an excellent opportunity for producers to get a firm grasp on their fertilizer requirements for the upcoming crop year. Participants interested in attending should contact the NRCS office at 724-482-4800, Ext. 108 by Jan. 20.

Lately, our office has been receiving several calls on the status of our Environmental Quality Incentive Program funds.Typically, we allocate our EQIP funds during December and January, but because of the new Farm Bill and changing administration, Congress has funded the government through a continuing resolution until March 6.This resolution funds the government using last fiscal year's allocation dollars and will continue to do so until a fiscal year 2009 budget is passed.In addition, NRCS recently completed a nationwide financial audit on all of our financial contracts. This audit exposed some contracting issues in certain states. Pennsylvania, however, fared well.The financial audit and new administration could mean a different approach to how we administer some of our financial assistance programs. Because of this, our national office is reluctant to release contracting dollars to the states for allocation until the new administration has a chance to review the audit.For the applicants who have signed up and are waiting to be ranked for this year's allocation; we are not expecting to begin our ranking until spring at the earliest, and this process could be pushed back until midsummer.In the meantime, if you are interested in financial assistance for cover crops, trying no-till, grazing systems or barnyard practices, we are still encouraging producers to continue to sign up for assistance. You might not be eligible for this year's funding. However, we expect our contracting timeline to be back on schedule in the fall.<B><I>Andy Gaver is a conservationist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Butler County.</I></B>