The Conservation Stewardship Program, or CSP, helps agricultural producers maintain and improve their existing conservation systems and adopt additional conservation activities to address priority resources concerns.

Participants earn CSP payments for conservation performance - the higher the performance, the higher the payment.

The 2021 CSP application deadline is March 26, 2021.

“We are making excellent strides to improve the applicability and benefits of CSP across all farm, ranch, and forestry operations,” says Carlos Suarez, state conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, California. “We have many options for conservation on small, urban, and large-scale farm operations.”

Through CSP, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, or NRCS, helps farmers, ranchers and forest landowners expand stewardship activities and receive payments for both their existing conservation work and new enhancements they undertake.

Enhancements are available to help with soil health, pollinators, changing weather patterns, western forest structure, efficient irrigation, rangeland health and much more.

“This is a program especially well-suited to California where many agricultural industries and supporters promote and reward advanced levels of stewardship,” says RaeAnn Dubay, assistant state conservationist for Farm Bill Programs. “CSP can help with those additional goals. It can also help producers meet regulatory requirements or further work they have been doing to promote organic production, forest health and rangeland management.”

While conservation applications are accepted throughout the year, interested producers should submit CSP applications to their local NRCS office by March 26 to ensure their applications are considered for 2021 funding.

Selections will be announced in late April and contracts will be obligated by July 30, 2021.

For additional information about CSP, please schedule an appointment with your local USDA Service Center; visit https://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/.

More information can be found at www.farmers.gov/.