Contact: Mark Schultz, LSP, 612-722-6377

4/25/03
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-Farmers can learn about an exciting new federal farm program that rewards conservation at a new Web page recently launched by the Land Stewardship Project. The Web page describes the Conservation Security Program (CSP), an initiative that was made part of the 2002 Farm Bill.

CSP, if implemented by USDA in accord with what Congress passed in the Farm Bill, will be a unique and exciting program that provides payments for producers who historically have practiced good stewardship on their agricultural lands, and incentives for those who want to do more. The program is being administered by the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The philosophy behind CSP is that it is a way to reward farmers for doing a good job of conservation on working farmland, as well as for establishing new practices that improve land stewardship still further.

The Land Stewardship Project Web page features fact sheets on the basics of the program, as well as the latest news, commentaries, and links related to CSP. The Web page also provides information on how farmers and other citizens can influence USDA implementation of the program. Such influence will be a key factor in making sure CSP lives up to what the law that created it calls for, said Mark Schultz, the Land Stewardship Project's Policy Program Director. He added that the public also needs to put pressure on the USDA to implement the CSP without further delays.

"One thing farmers can do is to go into their local NRCS offices and talk to staffers about practices that they are using now or are considering implementing that are good for their operations and are of environmental benefit," said Schultz. "Farmers need to get NRCS staffers thinking and working on how to make the CSP an initiative that works for the land and the farmer."

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