2010 Conservation Stewardship Program Available for Farmers
Farmers Must Enroll by June 11
CONTACT: Adam Warthesen, LSP, 612-722-6377
5/11/10
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Farmers have until June 11 to apply for enrollment in the current round of the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). CSP offers payments to producers who maintain a high level of conservation on working land and who agree to adopt additional levels of stewardship.
In 2009, nearly 900 contracts were offered to Minnesota producers and over 470,000 Minnesota acres were enrolled in the program. CSP is expected to enroll nearly 13 million acres nationwide during the 2010 sign-up. Last year’s CSP sign-up marked the first one since the program was revamped and strengthened in the 2008 Farm Bill.
“Farmers should check it out—CSP worked for our farm,” said Tom Nuessmeier, a member of the Land Stewardship Project’s Federal Farm Policy Committee and a diversified hog and crop farmer from Saint Peter, Minn. Nuessmeier applied for and received a CSP contract during the 2009 sign-up. “Are there still some issues to be ironed out? Sure. But it’s real dollars for conservation and the direction farm policy needs to go.”
Payments to farmers for CSP vary depending on total acres enrolled, land classification, conservation achieved and conservation to be attained by the end of the five-year contract. Eligible working lands include cropland, pastureland, rangeland and non-industrial forestland.
Farmers can sign up for CSP anytime throughout the year, but to be eligible for the current round of contracts they must complete the preliminary application process by June 11. To begin the CSP application, producers should contact their local Natural Resources Conservation Service office.
“I think farmers in general want to do conservation,” said Nuessmeier. “The Conservation Stewardship Program supports good stewardship on the ground and encourages farmers to employ additional conservation practices.”
For more information about CSP, visit http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/new_csp/csp.html.
For a copy of LSP's newest CSP fact sheet, "CSP on Your Farm in 2010," click here.
