Days Running Out to Sign Up for New CSP

Sept. 10, 2009

DES MOINES, IA, Sept. 10, 2009 — Only a few weeks remain for Iowa farmers to hit the first signup period cutoff of Sept. 30 for the new Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), which is a voluntary program that encourages agricultural and forestry producers to maintain existing conservation activities and adopt additional ones on their operations.

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill) authorizes CSP, which is administered by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Congress renamed and revamped the former Conservation Security Program completely to improve its availability and appeal to agricultural and forestry producers. The new CSP is available to all producers nationwide. Eligible lands include cropland, grassland, prairie, improved pastureland, non-industrial private forestland-a new land use for the program-and agricultural land under the jurisdiction of an Indian tribe. 

Eligible applicants may include individual landowners, legal entities, and Indian tribes. Although CSP is continuous signup, agricultural and forestry producers must submit applications by Sept. 30 to be considered for funding in the first ranking period.

Iowa NRCS State Conservationist Rich Sims encourages producers to make every effort to sign-up during the first ranking period. “The new CSP is an excellent opportunity for producers to be rewarded for their land stewardship,” he said. “As more producers become familiar with the new version of the program, we anticipate greater competition in future signups.”

To apply for the newly revamped CSP, potential participants are encouraged to use a self-screening checklist first to determine whether the new program is suitable for them or their operation. The checklist is available online at www.ia.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/csp2009.html and at NRCS field offices. After self-screening, the producer's current and proposed conservation practices are entered in the conservation measurement tool (CMT). This tool estimates the level of environmental performance to be achieved by a producer implementing and maintaining conservation activity. The conservation performance estimated by the CMT will be used to rank applications.

Priority resource concerns are one of the criteria that will be used to rank applications. Iowa’s priority resource concerns for agricultural producers include soil quality, soil erosion, water quality and animals, including livestock and wildlife. For non-industrial private forestland, priority resource concerns include plants, animals, water quality and erosion. Iowa will establish a ranking pool to rank applications with similar resource concerns.

NRCS field staff will also conduct on-site field verifications of applicants' information obtained from the CMT. Once the potential participant has been field verified and approved for funding, he or she must develop a conservation stewardship plan.

For information about CSP, including eligibility requirements, producers can visit www.nrcs.usda.gov/new_csp or visit their local NRCS field office.

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Contact:
Tom O’Connor, CSP Program Manager, USDA-NRCS
Phone: (515) 284-4353

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