The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) helps you build on your existing conservation efforts while strengthening your operation.
The CSP Classic application cutoff date for Fiscal Year 2024 is March 22, 2024. Eligibility deadline is April 26, 2024.
NRCS accepts applications year-round but makes funding selections at application cut-off dates.
Program Description and Eligibility Requirements
Most of the agriculture producers that are approved to participate in CSP have already been implementing conservation practices on their land. CSP steps in and offers enhancements for those practices. For example, if you have been practicing prescribed grazing, CSP would give you options to enhance that practice with activities such as grazing management to improve plants for wildlife, or grazing management to reduce soil compaction, or grazing management to improve riparian function, just to name a few.
If you decide to enroll in CSP, the local NRCS conservation planner will have a one-on-one consultation with you to evaluate your current management system and the natural resources on your land. Then the NRCS conservation planner will present a variety of CSP enhancement alternatives for you to consider implementing on your land, based on existing conservation practices. The variety of CSP conservation activities that are offered give you a lot of freedom to select enhancements or practices that help you meet your management goals. These improvements work naturally with your land to bring out your land’s best potential.
Once you choose the enhancements that best fit your operation, CSP offers annual incentive payments for installing these practices on your land. If you want to take it even a step further, CSP also offers bundles where you can select a suite of enhancements to implement and receive an even higher payment rate.
Eligibility
Agricultural producers and owners of non-industrial private forestland and Tribes are eligible to apply for CSP. Eligible land includes cropland, rangeland, pastureland, non-industrial private forestland and other farm or ranch lands.
Participant Responsibilities
Control of or own eligible land
Comply with adjusted gross income limitations (AGI) provisions
Be in compliance with the highly erodible land and wetland conservation requirements
Additional restrictions and program requirements may apply
CSP Payments
Participating in the CSP represents a genuine commitment to conservation. CSP contracts are for five years, with the option to renew if you successfully fulfill the initial contract and agree to achieve additional conservation objectives.
Contract payments are made annually based on the following components:
- Existing activity payment - payment to maintain the existing conservation based on the land uses included in the operation and the number of resource concerns that are meeting the stewardship level at the time of application
- Additional activity payment - payment to implement additional conservation activities
- Supplemental payment – payment for adopting or improving a resource-conserving crop rotation (optional)
All CSP contracts will have a minimum annual payment of $4,000.
Documents and Forms
2024 CSP Classic Application Signup Deadline - March 22, 2024
2024 CSP Classic Eligibility Deadline - April 26, 2024
2025-1 CSP Renewal Signup Deadline - May 3, 2024
Contracts obligated in FY 2020 are eligible for Renewal.
CSP-IRA - Application Signup Deadline - March 22, 2024
CSP-IRA - Eligibility Deadline - April 26, 2024
Contact Information:
Jennifer Richardson, Farm Bill Specialist
Phone: (410)844-2716
Email: Jennifer.Richardson1@usda.gov
Ready to get started?
Contact your local service center to start your application.
How to Get Assistance
Do you farm or ranch and want to make improvements to the land that you own or lease?
Natural Resources Conservation Service offers technical and financial assistance to help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.
To get started with NRCS, we recommend you stop by your local NRCS field office. We’ll discuss your vision for your land.
NRCS provides landowners with free technical assistance, or advice, for their land. Common technical assistance includes: resource assessment, practice design and resource monitoring. Your conservation planner will help you determine if financial assistance is right for you.
We’ll walk you through the application process. To get started on applying for financial assistance, we’ll work with you:
- To fill out an AD 1026, which ensures a conservation plan is in place before lands with highly erodible soils are farmed. It also ensures that identified wetland areas are protected.
- To meet other eligibility certifications.
Once complete, we’ll work with you on the application, or CPA 1200.
Applications for most programs are accepted on a continuous basis, but they’re considered for funding in different ranking periods. Be sure to ask your local NRCS district conservationist about the deadline for the ranking period to ensure you turn in your application in time.
As part of the application process, we’ll check to see if you are eligible. To do this, you’ll need to bring:
- An official tax ID (Social Security number or an employer ID)
- A property deed or lease agreement to show you have control of the property; and
- A farm number.
If you don’t have a farm number, you can get one from USDA’s Farm Service Agency. Typically, the local FSA office is located in the same building as the local NRCS office. You only need a farm number if you’re interested in financial assistance.
NRCS will take a look at the applications and rank them according to local resource concerns, the amount of conservation benefits the work will provide and the needs of applicants. View Application Ranking Dates by State.
If you’re selected, you can choose whether to sign the contract for the work to be done.
Once you sign the contract, you’ll be provided standards and specifications for completing the practice or practices, and then you will have a specified amount of time to implement. Once the work is implemented and inspected, you’ll be paid the rate of compensation for the work if it meets NRCS standards and specifications.