Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) 2009 Program Year

NRCS has announced the first sign up for the new Conservation Stewardship Program.
To be considered for Fiscal Year 2009 funding, applications must be received by September 30, 2009.

Program Description

The Conservation Stewardship Program encourages land stewards to improve their conservation performance by installing and adopting additional activities, and improving, maintaining, and managing existing activities on agricultural land and nonindustrial private forest land. The program is available nationwide on a continuous application basis.

The Conservation Stewardship Program encourages producers to address resource concerns in a comprehensive manner by:

•  Undertaking additional conservation activities.
•  Improving, maintaining, and managing existing conservation activities.

Conservation activities include enhancements and conservation practices. A list of conservation enhancement and practices for the Conservation Stewardship Program, including eligible land uses and activity criteria, can be downloaded below.

Through the Conservation Stewardship Program, NRCS will provide financial and technical assistance to eligible producers to conserve and enhance soil, water, air, and related natural resources on their land. Eligible lands include cropland, grassland, prairie land, improved pastureland, rangeland, nonindustrial private forest lands, agricultural land under the jurisdiction of an Indian tribe, and other private agricultural land (including cropped woodland, marshes, and agricultural land used for the production of livestock) on which resource concerns related to agricultural production could be addressed. Participation in the program is voluntary.

2009 Ranking Pools

Applications will be evaluated relative to other applications in addressing similar priority resource concerns as shown in the table below:

Resource-Conserving Crop Rotations

A resource-conserving crop rotation (RCCR) is a crop rotation that includes at least one resource conserving crop, reduces wind and water erosion, increases soil organic matter, improves soil fertility and tilth, interrupts pest cycles, and reduces depletion of soil moisture.

Resource conserving crops include:

• Perennial grasses, legumes, or grass/legume mixtures grown for use as forage, seed for planting, or green manure:
  Vetch, alfalfa, clovers, fava beans, perennial grasses
• High residue-producing crops (except not when grown for silage): Small grains such as barley, rye (cereal), oats, wheat, rice, corn (not for silage), millet, perennial grasses
• Cover crops following an annual crop: Small grains, vetch, clover, buckwheat, daikon radish, mustard and cover mixes such as fava bean/Austrian pea/barley, cow peas/grass/vetch, and buckwheat/clover/grass

General Criteria for Resource Conserving Crop Rotation:

1. The rotation will cover at least 3 years of the contract.
2. The resource conserving crop rotation is considered adopted when the resource conserving crop is planted on at least 1/3 of the rotation acres. The resource conserving crop rotation has to be adopted by the 3rd yr of the contract and has to have been planted on all rotation acres by the 5th yr of the contract.
3. The resource conserving crop rotation must include one of the following cropping options:
   1. A minimum of two crops if one of the crops is a perennial lasting at least 2 yrs (example: alfalfa 2 yrs or more and corn); or
   2. A minimum of 2 annual crops (if no perennials are in the rotation) with a cover crop following one of the crop years (example: tomatoes, cover crop, corn); or
   3. A minimum of 3 crops (if no perennials are in the rotation) and at least ½ the rotation is high residue crops (example: barley, melons, wheat, tomatoes).
4. Vineyards and Orchard crops are not considered to be a resource conserving crop rotation and therefore not eligible for the RCCR supplemental payment.

Examples of crop rotations that meet the requirements for Resource Conserving Crop Rotations:

Rotation (3 Years): Corn; vetch; tomatoes

Rotation (2 Years): Winter cover crop mix; annual crop; Winter cover crop mix; annual crop. Note: Cover crop mix could be faba bean, winter pea, and barley. Annual crop could be tomatoes, corn, cotton or other annual crop.

Rotation (5 Years): Alfalfa 3rd. year: tomatoes (or other annual crop); small grain. Note: Small grain could be winter wheat or barley. Annual crop could be tomatoes, corn, cotton or other annual crop.

Eligibility

Individuals, entities, and Indian Tribes operating agricultural or private non-industrial private forest land may be eligible for the program.

Eligible lands include privately owned cropland, grazing land, nonindustrial private forest land, and agricultural land under the jurisdiction of an Indian tribe. The lands must be under control of the applicant for the duration of the Conservation Stewardship contract, which is five years. The entire agricultural operation must be enrolled and must include all agricultural land that will be under the applicant's control for the term of the proposed contract that is operated substantially separate from other operations.

Areas within the operation that are not in agricultural production or that are developed, such as farm headquarters, ranch sites, barnyards, feedlots, manure storage facilities, machinery storage areas, and material handling facilities are not eligible for a program payment. Also not eligible are public lands and private lands currently enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, Conservation Security Program, Grassland Reserve Program, and the Wetlands Reserve Program.

Program Application

The Conservation Stewardship Program is offered as a continuous signup, and applications are accepted year-round with periodic ranking cutoff dates announced during the year. To be considered for Fiscal Year 2009 funding, applicants must complete the following steps by September 30, 2009:

• Complete a 2009 CSP Self-Screening Checklist.
• Make an appointment with the local USDA Service Center to verify program eligibility and establish or update farm records with the Farm Services Agency.
• Submit a program application form (CPA-1200).
• Submit an operation map, aerial photograph or overlay that identifies their agricultural and/or forest operation and associated acreage amounts.

California CSP Application Documents and Forms

If you encounter problems with the files provided on this page, please contact the Webmaster.

The documents below require Acrobat Reader.

2009 Conservation Stewardship Self-Screening Checklist (PDF; 100 KB)
2009 Conservation Stewardship Program Application Form (PDF; 37 KB)
Conservation Stewardship Program Fact Sheet (PDF; 51 KB)
Conservation Stewardship Program Payment Range Estimates (PDF; 30 KB)
CSP Contributions to Organic Transitioning (PDF; 45 KB)
Map of California Ranking Pools (PDF; 171 KB)

Additional Information About CSP

• CSP Sign Up Announcement News Release
• National NRCS Conservation Stewardship Program Information

Contacts

If you are interested in the Conservation Stewardship Program, contact your local NRCS office for the next step in the application process. If you are not currently eligible for the Conservation Stewardship Program, NRCS may be able to assist you through other conservation programs.

California Statewide Contacts

Alan Forkey, Program Manager
Phone: 530-792-5653
Email: Alan.Forkey@ca.usda.gov

Roney Gutierrez, Program Specialist
Phone: 530-792-5649
Email: Roney.Gutierrez@ca.usda.gov

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