USDA Announces Conservation Security Program Sign Up and Renewable
Energy Incentive, Notes NCGA (03-25-05)
The National Corn
Growers Association (NCGA) reminds growers the Conservation Security
Program (CSP) signup period begins March 28. The program, available
to approximately 235,000 farmers and ranchers in 220 watershed areas,
includes a new renewable energy component.
The renewable
energy fuel component makes available compensation to eligible producers
for converting to renewable energy fuels such as ethanol and soy biodiesel,
for recycling 100 percent of on-farm lubricants, and for implementing
energy production, including wind, solar, geothermal and methane production.
Re-emphasizing
what President George W. Bush has stated regarding those who make
their living by farming, Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns said
“there is no better steward of this land than those who make
their livings on the land.”
Johanns also noted
CSP offers payment for enhancing the United States’ natural
resources. “This is a unique program that offers payment for
enhancing natural resources, rewards those farmers and ranchers who
are model conservationists and provides incentives for other producers
to meet those same high standards of environmental performance,”
he said.
Lisa Kelley, NCGA
director of public policy, said corn growers are good stewards of
the land and the program benefits the country as well as those growers
who have long deserved recognition for their livelihood.
“Corn growers
have been practicing conservation techniques for years and now we
have a chance to be rewarded for our practices,” Kelley said.
“The CSP program will aid in leaving this land in better shape
than we found it and that is something that we must do.”
In 2004, Pat Dumoulin,
an NCGA Production and Stewardship Action Team member, was among 2,188
farmers selected to participate in the initial round of the CSP. Dumoulin
said the experience was very positive.
The 220 watersheds
represent more than 185 million acres in every state and the Caribbean
area. The 2005 CSP sign up includes the 202 watersheds announced by
USDA and the 18 pioneer watersheds from the fiscal year 2004 sign
up. Producers who have a current CSP contract are not eligible for
this sign up.
Payments will
be made using three tiers of conservation contracts and are capped
at $20,000, $35,000 and $45,000 annually and will last for five years
for Tier I and five to 10 years for tiers II and III. Payments can
include four components: 1) an annual stewardship component for the
base level of conservation treatment, 2) an annual component for maintenance
of existing conservation practices, 3) a one-time new practice component
for additional needed practices, and 4) an enhancement component for
exceptional conservation effort. Enhancement activities could include
limited pesticide applications, total farm energy audits, shelterbelts
for wildlife and air quality, and riparian forest buffers for restoring
critical stream habitat.
To apply for CSP,
growers must complete a self-assessment workbook to determine if their
operations meet the requirements of the program and qualify for program
participation. The self-assessment process is completed using a self-screening
questionnaire for each land use to be enrolled.
Once finished
the producer submits the workbook to the local Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS) during the sign-up period and meets with NRCS personnel
to go over any additional needed documentation. NRCS will then determine
which enrollment category the producer qualifies for and selects the
categories to be funded through CSP.
The sign up period
runs through May 27. Additional information on CSP, including eligible
watersheds, self-assessment workbook and the amendment to the interim
final rule, is available at www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/csp.
Last reviewed
March 25, 2005