Contact: Mark Schultz, Land Stewardship Project, 612-722-6377
Jeff Klinge, farmer, Farmersburg, Iowa, 563-536-2314

5/19/04
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.—The USDA’s plan to restrict implementation of the Conservation Security Program (CSP) to a handful of watersheds nationwide severely hamstrings the program and directly contradicts the original law that created it, said farmer-members and staff of the Land Stewardship Project today. They were reacting to the USDA’s announcement that the only area in Minnesota where the program will be implemented this summer is the Blue Earth watershed in the south central part of the state. Iowa fared no better, with only the East Nishnabotna watershed in the southwestern corner of the state being selected.

As expected, the USDA’s announcement follows the Administration’s plan to highly restrict the implementation of the CSP, in contradiction to Congress’s 2002 enactment of CSP as a nationwide entitlement program accessible to all farmers practicing effective conservation, said Mark Schultz, Policy Program director for the Land Stewardship Project (LSP).

“Farmers and ranchers are not happy with USDA’s refusal to follow Congress’ lead, and the law itself, and get this program up and running and doing good on the land all across our country,” he said. “Our phone has been ringing off the hook ever since the Administration decided to buck Congress, disregard 14,000 people who commented on their proposed rule, and strangle the Conservation Security Program.”

The CSP program will be implemented by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Schultz said NRCS staffers across the country have shown a commitment to implement a good program that produces real results for farmers and the general public.

“They see the promise of the CSP to address critical natural resource issues like water quality, soil conservation and wildlife habitat, and we’ll work with local NRCS on that. But today’s announcement demonstrates the lack of any real conservation leadership or vision at USDA in Washington,” he said.

Jeff Klinge, an LSP Federal Farm Policy Committee member who farms near Farmersburg, Iowa, said farmers like himself are very upset at how low the CSP payment rates are. He added that USDA is also neglecting to fully recognize some of the most effective stewardship farming systems used by farmers in the region, such as resource-conserving crop rotations and managed rotational grazing.

“Congress is supposed to make the laws and whoever is in the White House is supposed to enforce and administer them,” said Klinge. “But this Administration seems to be writing their own law and too many members of Congress are sitting by while a good program gets gutted.”

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