The deadline is Feb. 10 for funding this year through a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that helps farmers, ranchers and forest landowners earn payment to expand conservation activities.
Applications from interested producers for the Conservation Stewardship Program through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service can be submitted to their local service office, a Jan. 4 news release said. The Conservation Stewardship Program “encourages adoption of new technologies and management techniques.”
“CSP continues to be a very effective tool for private landowners working to achieve their conservation and management goals,” Jamie Keith, acting state conservationist for Wisconsin, said in the release. “It is the largest conservation program in the United States with more than 70 million acres of productive agricultural and forest land enrolled.”
New Conservation Stewardship Program enrollments can be accepted from 2020 to 2023 due to changes in the 2018 Farm Bill, the release said. It is offered in Wisconsin through continuous signups. Among improvements to the program include the enrollment of “eligible, high-ranking applications based on dollars rather than acres.”
“Higher payment rates are now available under the 2018 Farm Bill for certain conservation activities, including cover crops and resource conserving crop rotations,” the release said.
The Conservation Stewardship Program has the potential to increase crop yields, decrease inputs and to improve wildlife habitats, the release said. The program works with cropland, pastureland, rangeland, nonindustrial private forest land and Tribal agricultural land.
