New USDA conservation security program months away
Date: 04-Jun-02
Country: USA
During a telephone news conference, USDA's top farm-program officials said CSP, as a new program, would undergo the full rule-making process, including an opportunity for farmers and environmentalists to suggest how to structure the program.
CSP was the brainchild of Senate Agriculture Committee chairman Tom Harkin, Iowa Democrat. The new farm law called for CSP to go into effect in fiscal 2003.
The farm law also expanded the Conservation Reserve to 39.2 million acres and greatly increased funding for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which shares the cost of controlling manure and farmland runoff.
Bruce Knight, head of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, said the agency would give first priority to expanding EQIP, since additional funding was available now. CSP would come later on the list for action because it would get no funding until the next fiscal year.
Undersecretary Mark Rey cited CSP in his summary of major conservation initiatives under the new farm law. Overall, he said, the farm law called for an "unprecedented investment" of $13 billion over six years in land, water and wildlife conservation.
Backers say CSP would pay farmers and ranchers for adoption of beneficial conservation practices, with payment rates increasing as more practices are applied to a larger portion of an operator's land.