Maybe a CSP sign up this summer?

Farm and Ranch April 28, 2009 The 2008 Farm Bill made many changes to USDA's CSP program. For one, it is no longer the Conservation Security Program but is the Conservation Stewardship Program. Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Dave White talks about other changes, including an increased enrollment limit, 12.7 million acres annually, and an enrollment not based on a watershed basis but now open nationwide. White: "Congress also changed it to an acreage based program and they stipulated in there that the acres for each state should be allocated to that state according to that state's size; how many eligible acres. So there is a lot more fairness I think in this particular program. The new farm bill version of CSP is not yet available but White says; White: "What we would like to do is get a rule or some sort of instructions out there . Have the NRCS people trained on it and then do a nationwide sign up sometime this summer and enter into contracts with producers late summer or early fall." White thinks Congress took great pains to simply CSP. White: "It is going to be streamlined and it is going to be available in every country across the country. And it is one I think will have a major impact on some of our carbon sequestration, climate change, water quality; a host of environmental issues, including wildlife habitat." NRCS Chief Dave White. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.