The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) began a continuous sign-up for the new Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) on Aug. 10 in Minnesota. The first cutoff for ranking purposes is Sept. 30.
“The Conservation Stewardship Program changed dramatically in the 2008 Farm Bill,” said spokesman Daniel Weber. “NRCS took the time to develop a program that would appeal to our diverse customers and offer them an equal chance to participate. We hope that agricultural and forestry producers in Minnesota take full advantage of the benefits this newly revised program offers.”
The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill) authorized the Conservation Stewardship Program. Congress renamed and revamped the former Conservation Security Program completely to improve its availability and appeal to agricultural and forestry producers.
NRCS administers CSP, a voluntary conservation program designed to encourage agricultural and forestry producers to adopt additional conservation practices and improve, maintain and manage existing ones.
Another major change in the program is the method of payments. CSP will offer two possible types of payments — annual and supplemental. The annual payment will be established using the conservation performance estimated by the CMT and calculated by land use type for enrolled eligible land. A supplemental payment is also available to participants who also adopt a resource-conserving crop rotation. CSP payments by law will average $18 per acre or less. The annual payment limitation for a person or legal entity is $40,000. A person or legal entity cannot exceed $200,000 for all contracts entered into during any five-year period.
The new CSP is very different from the old Conservation Security Program. Under the old program, producers were eligible if they were in the selected watersheds. All contracts under the old CSP will be honored until the end of the contract term.
For more information about the new CSP, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov/new_csp/. For more information about conservation programs in Minnesota, visit www.mn.nrcs.usda.gov
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