BATAVIA, Ohio (Jan. 11, 2017) – The Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) is currently accepting applications for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). CSP is the largest conservation program in the United States with 70 million acres of productive agricultural and forest land enrolled.
CSP helps agricultural and forestry producers build on existing conservation efforts while strengthening their operations. Most that are approved to participate in CSP have already been implementing conservation practices on their land. CSP offers more than 200 enhancements for those practices.
Once enrolled in CSP, the producer will have a one-on-one consultation with the NRCS conservation planner to evaluate the current operations and the natural resources on the property. Then the planner will determine if current activities meet stewardship eligibility, and will assist the producer in identifying additional enhancements to consider based on existing conservation practices, such as cover crops or precision agriculture. After the enhancements that best fit the operation are selected, CSP offers annual incentive payments for installing these activities on the land.
Applicants must have control of the land they want to enroll for a minimum of five years to be eligible. Producers interested in the program should contact the NRCS office prior to Feb. 3. Additional information on the program is located at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/csp. Producers in Clermont and Brown Counties should contact Lori Lenhart, NRCS District Conservationist, at 513.732.2181 ext. 3, or by email at lori.lenhart@oh.usda.gov.
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