Conservation Stewardship

Program: What it Can Mean to You and Your Operation

61st Annual WLWCA

Conference

George Reistad Asst. Policy Director

Michael Fields Agricultural Institute

1 Presentation Pictures Courtesy of NRCS Photo Gallery

Presentation Outline • History of CSP

• Conservation Security Program

• 2014 Farm Bill Funding

• Role of Michael Fields’ in CSP

• Benefits of Enrollment

• Cover Crops as an Enhancement

• Eric Allness (NRCS)

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History of CSP • The current Conservation

Stewardship Program builds on the former Conservation Security Program • Contracts through 2008 • Can renew through Stewardship

program once Security contract expires

• More streamlined • No more waiting for your watershed

to be selected for enrollment! • Eligible farmers in all US states and

territories can enroll on a continuous basis with ranking periods occurring throughout the year

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History of CSP

• Updated • No more enrollment tiers or

complex payment formulas • One annual payment over

contract term • Ranking and payment based

off of conservation measurement tool score • Measure environmental

benefits of existing and proposed conservation practices

• Not mentioned in 2014 Farm Bill

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History of CSP

• One of the premier conservation program in the nation

• Millions of dollars in mandatory spending annually – Acreage cap by state

• To date • ~46,000 farmer contracts

nationwide • Nearly 60 million acres

enrolled • Twice the area of Pennsylvania

(NSAC website)

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CSP in the 2014 Farm Bill

• Wins for conservation • Still the largest conservation program by acreage • Remains a comprehensive conservation program • Supplementary assistance for resource conserving

crop rotations • Perennial grasses, legumes for forage, seed, and green

manure, legume-grass mix, small grain grown with grass or legume green manure crop

• Comprehensive conservation planning language

• Bill losses • Acreage cap decrease – 12.8M 10M • Complex ranking system

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Role of Michael Fields Ag Institute

• MFAI, along with NSAC staff and member organizations, worked hard to remove the complexities and limitations from CSP in the 2008 and 2014 Farm Bill

• MFAI continues to do work surrounding CSP during ranking periods • Widespread publicity/promotion

throughout WI • Workshops and field days to

discuss the program • Annual NRCS-DATCP CSP Awards

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Benefits of Enrollment

• Financial rewards for existing conservation • Incentivizes adopting additional

practices • “Win-win” for everyone involved

• The land is stewarded • Operators are financially rewarded

for their practices

• Sign-up periods • Apply now – It just makes

sense!

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Cover Crops as an Enhancement

• Cover crops are an available CSP enhancement

• Weed suppression and soil health – PLT20

• Non-chemical termination methods – WQL17

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Weed Suppression and Soil Health – PLT20

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Non-Chemical Termination Methods – WQL17

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Citations

• NSAC Homepage www.sustainableagriculture.net

• NRCS CSP Webpage http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/financial/csp/

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Helpful Resources and Events

• WI Cover Crops Conference – www.michaelfields.org

• March 13-14

• Kalahari Resorts – WI Dells

• Registration still open

• Farmer’s Guide to the Conservation Stewardship Program • http://sustainableagriculture.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/NSAC-

Farmers-Guide-to-CSP-2011.pdf

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Mission Statement The Michael Fields Agricultural Institute is a non-profit organization

with the mission to nurture the ecological, social and economic resiliency of food and farming systems through education, research,

policy, and market development.

We envision an ever-creative cultural process in which farmers and consumers create agricultural landscapes with healthy regional

systems of land use, food production and distribution.

Since our founding in 1984, we have worked to realize this vision.

Celebrate our 30th Anniversary with us!

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