11/01/07 USDA preparing CSP payments

Farm and Ranch November 1, 2007 The U.S. Department of Agriculture says that nearly 257-million dollars in Conservation Security Payments are being readied for the over 19-thousand contracts with eligible landowners and producers. Natural Resources Conservation Service chief Arlen Lancaster explains what "readied" means. Lancaster: "Each year as payments are made landowners or contract holders need to come in and certify that they are continuing to meet those levels of conservation they agreed to in their contract. And so our staff are contacting landowners to say are you still implementing your conservation practices at this level? And when we get that acknowledgement from the contract h holder we are processing those payments." And chief Lancaster also notes flexibility in the payments, meaning contract holders can choose to receive payments in calendar year 2007 or 2008. Lancaster: "This is an option we provided in past years with CSP so producers can make some options about which tax year they are going to take their payment in." Lancaster says the NRCS anticipates the next CSP sign up will take place in early 2008 in the 51 eligible watersheds that were announced in September of 2006. Lancaster: "We didn't receive funding for the program and so we were not able to hold a sign up in fiscal year 2007. At the end of fiscal year 2007 the cap that was placed on the program was lifted. We now have the funds to offer a new sign up. We committed to producers that we wanted to have this sign up. So, early in 2008 we will be holding that sign up." CSP is a voluntary program established as part of the 2002 Farm Bill to support ongoing conservation stewardship on private agricultural working lands. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.