IMPORTANCE
The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) is a voluntary conservation program that supports ongoing stewardship of private agricultural lands by providing payments to farmers for maintaining and enhancing natural resources.

BACKGROUND 
Created in the 2002 Farm Bill, the Conservation Security Program was phased out in the 2008 Farm Bill (except for existing contracts) and renamed the Conservation Stewardship Program. CSP identifies and rewards farmers and ranchers who are meeting the highest standards of conservation and environmental management on their operations. CSP provides financial and technical assistance to promote the conservation and improvement of soil, water, air, energy, plant and animal life and other conservation purposes on private cropland, grassland, prairie land, improved pasture and range land, as well as forested land that is an incidental part of an agriculture operation. The new CSP, beginning in 2009, eliminates the three-tier approach of the old program, establishes 5-year rather than 10-year contracts, and requires direct attribution of payments, among other changes. The 2008 Farm Bill sets a target of enrolling 12.8 million acres annually under the new CSP. Individual producer payments are limited to $200,000 in any 5-year period per entity. Rather than annual sign-ups for the program, CSP enrollment will be contracted on a continuous basis. The type of eligible lands is expanded to include priority resource concerns, as identified by states; certain private agricultural and forested lands; and also some nonindustrial private forest lands (limited to not more than 10% of total annual acres under the program). Technical assistance will also be provided to specialty crop and organic producers, along with a pilot testing of producers who engage in innovative new technologies or participate in on-site conservation research. Producers may also receive supplemental payments for resource-conserving crop rotations that provide specific environmental benefits such as improving soil fertility, thus reducing the need for irrigation. Program payments may not be used for the design, construction, or maintenance of animal waste storage or treatment facilities or associated waste transport or transfer devices.

NPPC POSITION
NPPC has and will continue to support the Conservation Stewardship Program, although its complexity, funding levels, the manner in which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has geographically targeted sign ups and its prohibition on assisting with livestock waste structural measures has limited the program’s potential and actual value to pork producers. As a result, NPPC has placed more emphasis on making the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) work for pork producers.

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