Funding is available for the Organic Initiative in Washington, which provides organic and transitioning organic farmers financial assistance to implement conservation practices consistent with organic production, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service announced recently.

Conservation practices include planting cover crops, establishing integrated pest management plans, building seasonal high tunnels or implementing nutrient management systems.

Eligible producers include those who are certified through USDA's National Organic Program, transitioning to certified organic production, or meet organic standards but are exempt from certification because their gross annual organic sales are less than $5,000.

The cutoff date for this application period is Dec. 21. A second signup cutoff will be set for Feb. 15 if additional funding becomes available.

For more information, contact the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Prosser at 509-786-1923 (Benton County residents) and in Pasco at 545-8546 (Franklin County residents).