03/25/08 CSP signups begin April 18

The Natural Resource Conservation Service says signups for CSP, the Conservation Security Program will begin on April 18th. LANCASTER "And that will go until May 16th. It is in the 51 watersheds that we first announced in August 2006 and again last fall." NRCS Chief Arlen Lancaster has been waiting for a new farm bill but he couldn't delay trying to reach out to producers who are good stewards of the land. LANCASTER "We decided that this was the only alternative that we had. We had hoped that we would have a new farm bill with a new CSP program so that we could offer a new signup across the nation." The Little Lost watershed, mostly in Butte and Custer counties, is eligible for signup this year. The 44 thousand acre watershed has 76 different agricultural producers within it. LANCASTER "In those 51 watersheds we estimate probably 64 thousand farms and ranches would be eligible for CSP and with those 64 thousand farms and ranches we're talking about 23.7 million acres that might be eligible for the program. Of course not everyone will get in. We really are talking about the best stewards of the land but that's the universe." Since 2004 NRCS says 331 watersheds across the nation have been enrolled in CSP. In Idaho 572 producers signed up between 2004 and 2006. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott