Farm Bill Programs for You and Your Community: New Conservation Stewardship Program to Enroll 13 Million Acres
This month we introduce the new Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). It replaces the Conservation Security Program that was part of the 2002 Farm Bill. Because of the problems in the way the old program was rolled out, we’re happy to say, “out with the old and in with the new.”
CSP, administered by USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), provides payments to farmers and ranchers to maintain and manage existing conservation practices and to add conservation activities on land in agricultural production. The program is slated to enroll nearly 13 million acres each year. Each state’s CSP acreage enrollment eligibility will be allocated based on the amount of ag land in the state relative to the national total.
We are waiting for NRCS to publish the rules and regulations that will govern how the new Conservation Stewardship Program rolls out. We do know some things for sure:
• Farmers and ranchers across the country will be eligible to apply for the program. It will no longer be limited to select watersheds.
• The program will have a continuous sign-up process. (However, NRCS will periodically rank the applications in hand to make funding decisions for that year.)
• A ranking process will determine who receives a contract. The more conservation you already have on the land and the more you are willing to do over the life of the contract, the better your application will rank.
• Contracts are five years, with an option to renew for an additional five years.
• All the acres under the effective control of a producer must be enrolled, regardless of whether or not they are contiguous, owned or rented, cropland, pasture or rangeland.
• Land currently enrolled in the Conservation Reserve, Wetland Reserve, or Grassland Reserve Programs (CRP, WRP or GRP) is ineligible. In addition, land that has not been cropped for four of the six years prior to 2008 but is then put under crop cultivation is ineligible unless it was previously enrolled in the CRP, was managed under a long-term crop rotation, or is an incidental portion of the land.
• NRCS is to conduct special outreach and assistance to organic farmers and ranchers.
Stay tuned to learn more about the new Conservation Stewardship Program. We will provide updated information once we see the program rules.
Contact: Traci Bruckner, 402.687.2103 x 1016 or tracib@cfra.org for more information.
CSP, administered by USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), provides payments to farmers and ranchers to maintain and manage existing conservation practices and to add conservation activities on land in agricultural production. The program is slated to enroll nearly 13 million acres each year. Each state’s CSP acreage enrollment eligibility will be allocated based on the amount of ag land in the state relative to the national total.
We are waiting for NRCS to publish the rules and regulations that will govern how the new Conservation Stewardship Program rolls out. We do know some things for sure:
• Farmers and ranchers across the country will be eligible to apply for the program. It will no longer be limited to select watersheds.
• The program will have a continuous sign-up process. (However, NRCS will periodically rank the applications in hand to make funding decisions for that year.)
• A ranking process will determine who receives a contract. The more conservation you already have on the land and the more you are willing to do over the life of the contract, the better your application will rank.
• Contracts are five years, with an option to renew for an additional five years.
• All the acres under the effective control of a producer must be enrolled, regardless of whether or not they are contiguous, owned or rented, cropland, pasture or rangeland.
• Land currently enrolled in the Conservation Reserve, Wetland Reserve, or Grassland Reserve Programs (CRP, WRP or GRP) is ineligible. In addition, land that has not been cropped for four of the six years prior to 2008 but is then put under crop cultivation is ineligible unless it was previously enrolled in the CRP, was managed under a long-term crop rotation, or is an incidental portion of the land.
• NRCS is to conduct special outreach and assistance to organic farmers and ranchers.
Stay tuned to learn more about the new Conservation Stewardship Program. We will provide updated information once we see the program rules.
Contact: Traci Bruckner, 402.687.2103 x 1016 or tracib@cfra.org for more information.
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