Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)

Continuous Enrollment for Producers Begins Aug. 10 with First Ranking Cutoff Sept. 30th

Columbia, South Carolina, Aug. 10, 2009—The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) today announced continuous sign-up for the new Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) in South Carolina. SC NRCS State Conservationist Niles Glasgow said the first cutoff for ranking purposes is September 30, 2009.

NRCS administers CSP, a voluntary conservation program designed to encourage agricultural and forestry producers to adopt additional conservation practices and improve, maintain and manage existing ones.

“The Conservation Stewardship Program changed dramatically in the 2008 Farm Bill,” said Glasgow. “NRCS developed a program to appeal to our diverse customers and offer them an equal chance to participate.”

The 2008 Farm Bill authorized the Conservation Stewardship Program. Congress renamed and revamped the former Conservation Security Program to improve its availability and appeal to agricultural and forestry producers.

To apply, individual producers, legal entities and Indian tribes are encouraged to determine eligibility first by using a self-screening checklist. This checklist is available on NRCS Web sites and at NRCS field offices.

A producer must treat at least one resource concern and one priority resource concern during the length of the CSP five-year contract. South Carolina NRCS identified priority resource concerns for both agricultural land (soil/water quality, plants, and animals) and non-industrial private forest land (soil erosion, water quality, plants, and animals). NRCS conservationists will conduct on-site field verifications of pre-approved applicants’ information.

Another major change in the program is the method of payments. CSP will offer two possible payment types—annual or supplemental. Payments will be limited to $40,000 annually per year during the five-year contract with a maximum total payment of $200,000 over the life of the contract.

To obtain a CSP contract, applicants must be listed as the operator in the USDA farm records management system for the operation being considered for enrollment. They must document that they control the land for the term of the contract and include all eligible land in their entire operation in that contract. They must also comply with highly erodible land and wetland conservation provisions and comply with Adjusted Gross Income provisions.

Acreage enrolled in the Conservation Security Program, Conservation Reserve Program, Grasslands Reserve Program and Wetlands Reserve Program are ineligible for the new Conservation Stewardship Program.

For more information visit www.nrcs.usda.gov/new_csp/, or call your local NRCS office.

CSP applications in South Carolina will be evaluated relative to other applications addressing similar priority resource concerns to facilitate a competitive ranking process among applicants.

The geographic areas, otherwise known as ranking zones, for CSP in South Carolina, are Lowcountry, Pee Dee, and Piedmont.
 

To view a map of the ranking zones: Conservation Stewardship Program Geographic Areas

2009 SC CSP-- Conservation Stewardship Program-- Priority Resource Concerns

Other Information

If you encounter any problems with the files provided on this page, please contact Sabrenna Bryant at 803-765-5419.

The following requires Adobe Acrobat.

CSP 2009 Factsheet (PDF; 65 KB)
CSP Estimated Payment Ranges (PDF; 29 KB)
CSP Conservation Activity List (PDF; 34 KB)
2009 Conservation Stewardship Self-Screening Checklist
SC CSP Resource Conserving Crops (PDF; 14 KB)
Organic Crosswalk (PDF; 44 KB)

Contacts

Glenn Sandifer
Programs Specialist
Phone: 803-253-3894
Email: glenn.sandifer@sc.usda.gov

Craig Ellis
Assistant State Conservationist (P)
Phone: (803) 253-3930
Email: craig.ellis@sc.usda.gov

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