Are you an agricultural producer or forest landowner who wants to use less resources and see positive benefits on your land while continuing to farm?  Are you passionate about conservation and environmental stewardship? Why not consider applying for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)? Benefits include increased crop yields, decreased inputs, wildlife population improvements, and better resilience to weather extremes.

Through CSP, the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) helps private landowners build their business while implementing conservation practices that help ensure the sustainability of their entire operation. Agricultural producers and forest landowners earn payments for actively managing, maintaining, and expanding conservation activities such as cover crops, ecologically-based pest management, buffer strips, and pollinator and beneficial insect habitat – all while maintaining active agricultural production on their land. CSP also encourages the adoption of cutting-edge technologies and new management techniques such as precision agriculture applications, on-site carbon storage and planting for high carbon sequestration rates, and new soil amendments to improve water quality.

The program helps producers better evaluate conservation options and benefits to their operations, as well as to our natural resources. Methods and software for evaluating applications help producers see why they are – or are not – meeting stewardship thresholds and allow them to pick practices that work for their objectives. These tools also enable producers to see potential payment scenarios for conservation early in the process.

While applications for CSP are accepted year-round, to be considered for the first round of FY2024 funding they must be received by December 8, 2023.

Interested? Find out if you’re qualified by contacting your local USDA service center or scroll down the page to the How to Get Assistance section.