Conservation Security Program Funding Restored
Current CSP Minnesota Contract-Holders to be Rewarded for Adding New Conservation Practices; New 2007 Sign-Up Expected
CONTACT: Adam Warthesen, Land Stewardship Project, 612-722-6377
Tim Gieseke, Minnesota Project, 507-359-1889
6/26/07
Minnesota conservation and family farm groups applauded the announcement Monday that funding for the Conservation Security Program (CSP) will allow the USDA to meet contract obligations and pay CSP contract-holders who have modified their contracts by adding new conservation practices. In addition, a 2007 CSP sign-up will be held later this year for farmers who want to newly enroll.
The Conservation Security Program was created in the 2002 Farm Bill as the country’s first comprehensive working lands conservation program. It is up for re-authorization in the 2007 Farm Bill, which is being debated in Congress. Since 2004, 712 Minnesota farmers have enrolled in the program, totaling over 208,000 acres. Nationwide, nearly 20,000 farms are enrolled in the program, totaling 16 million acres.
Congress recently passed a budget supplemental bill that included additional funding for the Conservation Security Program. That means farmers who have modified their Conservation Security Program contracts by adding new conservation practices to their farms will receive full program support. The restored program funding will also allow additional farmers in selected watersheds to apply to the program.
“Many Minnesota farmers, rightfully so, will now be rewarded for the new conservation practices they established on their farms because of CSP. This program drives conservation,” said Adam Warthesen, a Land Stewardship Project organizer. “Congress did right in appropriating 2007 funds for CSP. Now they have a great opportunity to expand and build on the program in the 2007 Farm Bill.”
According to U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), the “Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act” provided sufficient funding to fully pay for all existing CSP contracts, including all contract modifications. It also provides the funds necessary to carry out an enrollment for the already-announced watersheds eligible in 2007. In Minnesota, that includes the Thief River watershed in northeastern Minnesota. Details on timing of the sign-up period for the watershed are forthcoming.
“Proceeding with the 2007 sign-up will also allow the Conservation Security Program to continue in its evolution as a farmer-friendly outcome-based conservation program,” said Tim Gieseke, Minnesota Project policy specialist.
A recent study of the Conservation Security Program authored by Gieseke and conducted by five Midwestern farm organizations including the Land Stewardship Project found widespread support for the program, but that administrative changes were needed to streamline the program and to make it more transparent.
“A lot of insight has been gained into how to administer this program since the rules were written in 2004,” said Gieseke. “Exercising this sign-up and fulfilling the previous contracts is the fair thing to do.”
For more information on the CSP study’s findings, go to www.landstewardshipproject.org or www.mnproject.org.
-30-
