By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Jon Hubbert of the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Morris, Ill., wants rural landowners in Illinois to know that the window for enrolling in the new, re-tooled national Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) for 2009 will close on Wednesday, Sept. 30. CSP encourages rural landowners to address resource concerns in a comprehensive manner and rewards them for it through financial incentives.

Sustainable natural resource conditions, long-term land productivity, reduced non-point source pollution, improved air quality and enhanced wildlife habitat are some of the benefits of CSP. Sign up for CSP is open nationwide.

“We’re going to be able to award contracts for up to 12.7 million acres of ground in Illinois.

If we don’t (enroll) that many acres then we just lose the opportunity,” said Hubbert.

If farmers are doing a good job with stewardship on their land, this is a reward for doing what they’re doing and an encouragement to keep doing it.”

The new CSP will impact 51,076,000 acres nationwide through 2012, according to a CSP fact sheet. The new, highly-specific regulations include:

•Participants must be legal farmland operators for the life of the contract;

•Farm operators must be documented in Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) farm records management system. Those not documented through FSA or with outdated or inaccurate records must be enrolled in the system or update their data to be eligible;

•Operators must obtain and complete the “self-screening checklist” online or at a local NRCS office to help decide if CSP fits the goals of their operations;

•Further information about the farm operation – documentation, maps, etc., will be required after enrollment.

Participants must craft their own conservation stewardship plan using NRCS’ conservation planning tools in order to document how they address resource concerns.

A record of the participants’ resource conservation practices will be maintained under the stewardship plan.

Exact details concerning CSP payouts to participants had not been finalized as of last week, though Hubbert said a self-assessment tool with payment estimates is available online.

Formerly known as the Conservation Security Program, the new CSP represents “another valuable tool in the box” for conservation-minded landowners along with the CRP and EQIP programs, Hubbert said. 

“It’s important to keep in mind that not everyone will qualify for (CSP),” added Paige Buck, public affairs specialist for USDA NRCS.
“If a producer is not ready for CSP, my agency has a lot of programs and assistance they may need or want instead.”

Hubbert and Buck encourage interested landowners to review CSP applicant information and requirements at www.nrcs.usda.gov/new_csp or see your county USDA Service Center before Oct. 1.