CSP ranking deadline set for June 11th
Washington Ag Today May 18, 2010 Landowners interested in USDA’s Conservation Stewardship Program have until June 11th to apply for this year’s funding. Dwayne Howard with the national Natural Resources Conservation Service says this new CSP is open to producers everywhere and is not limited by watershed. Howard: “With this stewardship program it is available for those landowners who are willing to maintain and improve their existing conservation activities that they have completed, whether that be on their own or other USDA programs. Another big part of it is those that are willing to do additional conservation activities. We are placing a lot of emphasis on folks electing to do additional activities that go over and beyond what our traditional Field Office Technical Guide standards are for conservation activities.” Washington Assistant State Conservationist Dave Brown says applicants will compete within identified ranking pools in Washington. Although the cut off date for this ranking period is June 11th, eligible producers may submit an application to enroll land in CSP on a continuous basis. Brown encourages producers to apply for CSP now to ensure their applications will be considered during the next funding and ranking period. Potential applicants can use the CSP self-screening checklist to determine if the new program suits their operation. The checklist is on the NRCS website. I’m Bob Hoff and that’s Washington Ag Today on Northwest Aginfo Net. ?
