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The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced the beginning of a nationwide signup under the new Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). A continuous signup began August 10, with the first ranking ending September 30. The CSP is a voluntary conservation program that encourages producers to address resource concerns in a comprehensive manner by undertaking additional conservation activities; and improving, maintaining, and managing existing conservation activities.
"CSP signup will be going on nationwide, which means all our NRCS offices in South Dakota will be taking applications," said Rod Voss, CSP Coordinator. Voss encourages any operator who is interested in CSP to contact their local NRCS office for dates, times, and locations of public information workshops.
The State Conservationist, in consultation with the State Technical Committee and local work groups, will focus program impacts on natural resources that are of specific concern for Ag land and nonindustrial private forestland in South Dakota. The priority resource concerns identified for Ag land in South Dakota are; water quality, soil erosion, soil quality, and plants. Priority resource concerns for nonindustrial private forestland include water quality, animals, and plants. Applications will be evaluated relative to other applications addressing these priority resource concerns to facilitate a competitive ranking process among applicants who face similar resource challenges.
Through CSP, the NRCS will provide financial and technical assistance to eligible producers to conserve and enhance soil, water, air, and related natural resources on their land. Eligible lands include cropland, grassland, prairie land, improved pastureland, rangeland, nonindustrial private forestlands, agricultural land under the jurisdiction of an Indian Tribe, and other private agricultural land (including cropped woodland, marshes, and agricultural land used for the production of livestock) on which resource concerns related to agricultural production could be addressed.
Eligible applicants may include operators who are individuals, legal entities, or Indian Tribes. The program will be offered to operators in all 50 states, District of Columbia and the Pacific and Caribbean areas through continuous sign-ups. Congress capped the annual acreage enrollment at 12,769,000 acres for each fiscal year nationwide. The NRCS will make CSP available nationwide on a continuous application basis. The NRCS will use a self-screening checklist to help potential applicants decide for themselves whether CSP is the right program for them and their operation. The process focuses on basic information about CSP eligibility requirements and contract obligations.
The entire agricultural operation must be enrolled and must include all agricultural land that will be under the applicant's control for the term of the proposed contract that is operated substantially separate from other operations. The CSP offers participants two possible types of payments: annual payment for installing and adopting additional activities, and improving, maintaining, and managing existing activities; and supplemental payment for the adoption of resource-conserving crop rotations.
The NRCS will establish a national target to set aside five percent of CSP acres for socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers and an additional five percent of CSP acres for beginning farmers or ranchers. State conservationists will obtain advice from State Technical Committees and local working groups on state program technical policies, outreach efforts, and program issues.
For more information about CSP, go to http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/new_csp/csp.html.
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©Marshall County Journal 2009
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