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Texas Agriculture Archive

April 1, 2005

CSP signup ends May 27

Texas has 18 watersheds in 75 counties eligible for signup in the 2005 Conservation Security Program (CSP). Signup runs through May 27.

Those 18 watersheds are part of 202 newly eligible watersheds representing more than 185 million acres in every state and the Caribbean. In addition to those watersheds, producers within the 18 pioneer watersheds of 2004 will also be eligible to submit applications. However, producers who have a current CSP contract are not eligible for signup.

CSP is a voluntary conservation program that supports ongoing stewardship of private, agricultural working lands and rewards those producers who are meeting the highest standards of conservation and environmental management on their operations.

Congress funded the fiscal year 2005 CSP budget at $202 million. This allows the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to write an estimated 12,000 to 14,000 contracts. Most working agricultural lands in the designated watersheds will be eligible, including cropland, orchards, vineyards, pasture and range.

The CSP program sign-up also includes a renewable energy component. Eligible producers will receive compensation for converting to renewable energy fuels such as soy biodiesel and ethanol, for recycling 100 percent of on-farm lubricants, and for implementing energy production, including wind, solar, geothermal and methane production.

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 Tier II and Tier 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, NRCS asks potential participants to complete a self-assessment workbook—available on the Web or from local NRCS offices—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.

When this process is completed, the producer submits the workbook to the local NRCS office 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.

Additional information on CSP, including eligible watersheds, self-assessment workbook and the amendment to the interim final rule, is available at:

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/ csp.