Agricultural Conservation Program Provides Incentives for Watershed Protection

Agriculture producers in selected priority watersheds could be eligible for federal funding if they agree to implement conservation practices through the new USDA Conservation Security Program.

The program is proposed to be implemented starting in the summer of 2004. Applicants for funding must address water quality and soil quality concerns for program eligibility. Unlike other federal farm programs for working lands that have payments tied to the production of specific commodity crops, the Conservation Security Program rewards all farmers, vineyard owners, and ranchers who voluntarily develop a Conservation Security Plan to protect soil, water, air, plant and animal resources. Land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, Wetlands Reserve Program, and Grassland Reserve Program, and land converted to cropland after the enactment of the CSP legislation is not eligible. Both new and existing conservation practices are eligible for payments, making the Conservation Security Program the first federal conservation program that rewards farmers for the good stewardship they have already been practicing on the land, as well as providing powerful incentives to achieve even higher levels of conservation and resource protection. For more information, visit http://www.mnproject.org/csp/.