Have you ever looked across your property and thought about some land management goals you would like to take to the next level? Maybe we can help.
No one knows more about your land than you do, and no one knows more about conservation than we do. Together we can develop a plan tailored to your land and your goals to help you increase productivity and protect the value of your land.
How it Works
Our Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) helps you build on your existing conservation efforts while strengthening your operation. Whether you are looking to improve grazing conditions, increases crop yields, or develop wildlife habitat, we can custom design a CSP plan to help you meet those goals. We can help you schedule timely planting of cover crops, develop a grazing plan that will improve your forage base, implement no-till to reduce erosion or manage forested areas in a way that benefits wildlife habitat. If you are already taking steps to improve the condition of the land, chances are CSP can help you find new ways to meet your goals.
> 2018 Farm Bill CSP Factsheet (PDF; 565 KB)
We understand it may be difficult to get the NRCS forms you need during this time. Use the links below to access these forms.
> CSP-NRCS-CPA-1200
> CCC-941
Benefits
CSP is for working lands. It is the largest conservation program in the United States with 70 million acres of productive agricultural and forest land enrolled in CSP. Thousands of people have made the choice to voluntarily enroll in the program because it helps them enhance natural resources and improve their business operation. Some of the benefits include:
> Improved cattle gains per acre
> Increased crop yields
> Decreased inputs
> Wildlife population improvements
> Better resilience to weather extremes
Through CSP, we can help build your business while implementing conservation practices that help ensure the sustainability of your entire operation. Good land stewardship not only conserves the natural resources on your farm, ranch or forest, it also provides multiple benefits to local communities, including better water and air quality and wildlife habitat, as well as food and fiber.
Additional CSP information can be found on NRCS' National CSP Website
How to Apply for CSP
> Establishing Eligibility for USDA Programs (PDF; 2MB)
> Indiana NRCS Sets Deadlines for Voluntary Conservation Programs - CSP application deadline is January 8, 2021
> Indiana 2021 CART Ranking Questions (PDF; 3MB)
> NR - Indiana NRCS DCs are Ready to Help Landowners Start the CSP Application Process
> CSP Applicant Factsheet (PDF; 441 KB)
CSP Stewardship Eligibility
> Address a minimum of two resource concerns at the time of application for each management system.
> Meet or exceed one additional resource concern through the adoption of additional conservation
activities which include practices and enhancements.
Renewal Applications
The 2018 Farm Bill gives NRCS authority to offer the opportunity to renew CSP contracts for five years after the initial contract period ends. Participants will be notified about the opportunity to renew during the final year of the existing contract. Please contact your local office for more information regarding the renewal of a CSP contract.
CSP Renewal Stewardship Eligibility
> Must maintain existing conservation activities
> Exceed the stewardship threshold of two targeted resource concerns that were met at the time of
application, or;
> Meet or exceed the stewardship threshold for at least two additional targeted resource concerns.
CSP New Activities Information
> FY21 CSP All Enhancement and Indiana Supplement Sheets (PDF; 60MB)
> FY21 CSP Activity List (PDF; 518 KB)
Indiana CSP Payment Rates
CSP offers two types of payments to producers. Annual payments are made each year to maintain the existing conservation system. This payment has two parts based on the number of resource concerns addressed at the time of application and the acres enrolled for each land use. The second payment type is for new activities adopted including practices, and enhancements.
The 2018 Farm Bill limits total payments from CSP contracts, in aggregate, to $200,000 for individuals or entities and $400,000 for joint operations which include general partnerships.
> FY21 CSP Cost-List for Indiana (PDF; 123 KB)
Supplemental Information
Interested applicants my need these documents to help communicate information about their operation when applying for CSP.
> Producer Information Consent Template (DOC; 19 KB)
> CSP Applicant Operation Worksheet (DOC; 25 KB)
> CSP's Contribution to Organic Transitioning (PDF; 45 KB)
New CSP - Grassland Conservation Initiative
CSP-GCI is a new program authorized by the 2018 Farm Bill. CSP-GCI provides financial assistance to producers to protect grazing uses; conserve and improve soil, water, and wildlife resources on eligible land. Enrollment is limited to those producers who FSA has determined as having base acres that qualify as eligible land for the program. Eligible land consists of cropland for which base acres have been maintained and documented as grass, idle, or fallow from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2017. The application deadline for the CSP-GCI 2021-1 signup is Oct 16, 2020.
> E300GCI - Grassland Conservation Initiative Activity and Indiana Supplement
CSP Data, FY2014 - Present
Indiana NRCS CSP data for FY2014 to the present are available on the CSP data page.
Contact Information
To apply for CSP, contact your local service center.
If you have questions about the information on this page, please contact Adam Heichelbech.
