06/14/06 CSP is a big hit in Idaho

The numbers are in and Idaho farmers and ranchers have embraced the Conservation Security Program. Offered this year in the Clearwater River basin in three northern counties and on the Malad watershed in Oneida County as part of a Utah project, state conservationist Rich Sims says Idahoans stepped forward. SIMS "We had 248 contracts accepted into the program and that ranks out sixth in the nation. That is a tremendous economic boost for those producers in that watershed that will be able to take advantage of those funds to use them for farming operations if they chose." That means that Idaho producers will get 3.6 million dollars for enhanced farming operations. CSP contracts run for five or ten years. SIMS "Your dollar amounts that you have in this fiscal year are compound five to ten to ten times for the overall length of the contracts so you're looking at from 2006 to 2015 there will be a total of 47.8 million dollars in CSP funds coming to Idaho." That does not cover the money that came to producers last year in the Lemhi watershed. The CSP money is used by producers on working farm lands. They can farm those acres, use best management practices and take other steps to get the best environmental and economic benefit for themselves and society. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott