Last Updated March 7, 2007
Conservation Security Program (CSP)
Providing payments for producers who historically have practiced good stewardship on their agricultural lands and incentives for those who want to do more
The Conservation Security Program (CSP) is a voluntary program authorized in the 2002 Farm Security and Rural Investment Act (Farm Bill) and administered by the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Unique among USDA conservation programs, CSP identifies and rewards farmers and ranchers who meet the highest standards of conservation and environmental management and creates powerful incentives for other producers to meet those same standards.
CSP is complementary to other conservation programs. Whereas other programs help establish or install conservation practices, CSP pays those who have attained a level of conservation that goes beyond minimum resource requirements for non-degradation. Payments are structured into three tiers, with higher payments made to producers demonstrating higher levels of conservation.
CSP also provides technical assistance to promote the conservation and improvement of soil, water, air, energy, plant, and animal life, and other conservation purposes.
Project Examples
Because the program was first implemented in
2004, no examples are available at the time of
publication. For more information, see
www.landstewardshipproject.org/programs_csp.html and www.mnproject.org/csp/.
Application and Financial Information
At the core of the CSP is a three-tiered system
that allows farmers to participate in the program
at the level they feel comfortable with.
- Under Tier 1, a farmer signs a 5-year plan that addresses soil and water quality for the part of the farm being enrolled in the program.
- Tier 2 requires more comprehensive farm-wide stewardship addressing at least soil and water quality, and it is accompanied by higher payments.
- Tier 3 pays farmers the most and rewards stewardship, addressing all resources of concern for the entire farm.
Contact your local conservation office or the state NRCS office for details of how the program can work on your farm.
Eligibility, Uses, and Restrictions
CSP is an entitlement program, meaning it is
not a competitive sign-up, and the funds must be
made available to any farmer or rancher who
develops an approved plan on Tribal and private
working lands, for farms and ranches of all types
and sizes in all 50 states, the Caribbean, and the
Pacific Basin. Working lands include cropland,
grassland, prairie land, improved pasture, and
rangeland, as well as forested land that is an
incidental part of an agricultural operation. In
2004, the first year of its implementation, the
program was offered only in a few watersheds
around the nation, but this is expected to change
in future years.
Participation in CSP does not require participation in commodity farm programs, and CSP payments have no bearing on farm program payment limitations. Land in the Conservation Reserve Program, the Wetland Reserve Program, and the Grassland Reserve Program cannot be enrolled in CSP. However, a farmer may participate in both CSP and one of these set-aside programs.
Contact
Craig Derickson
Phone: (202) 720-3524
E-mail: craig.derickson@wdc.usda.gov
Internet
www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/csp/index.html
