The ranking period cut-off date for producer applications in to enroll in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) has been extended to January 7, 2011, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
CSP is offered in all 50 states, District of Columbia, and the Pacific and Caribbean areas through continuous sign-ups with announced cut-off dates for ranking periods.
The 2011-1 ranking period deadline has been extended to give agricultural producers more time to complete their applications and allowing more producers to participate in the program, according to NRCS. The program focuses on improvement of water and soil quality, wildlife habitat enhancement and adoption of conservation activities that address the effects of climate change. Applications are evaluated and ranked relative to other applications that address similar resource concerns in the state, according to NRCS. In the ranking process, producers get credit both for conservation measures they have already implemented and for new measures they agree to add. Agricultural land and nonindustrial private forest land applications are ranked separately. A CSP participant’s annual land use payments for both additional and existing activities are calculated as: Annual Land Use Payments = Land Use Acres X Performance Points (additional or existing) X Land Use Payment Rate
Here’s a link to a self-screening checklist that producers can access to determine whether CSP is right for them.
