National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture

The Conservation Security Program

Program Description

The Conservation Security Program (CSP) is an innovative new federal farm program that provides financial and technical assistance for the conservation, protection, and improvement of soil, water, air, plant and animal resources on private working lands. The program provides payments for producers who practice good stewardship on their working agricultural lands and incentives for those who want to do more. CSP assistance was authorized in the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (farm bill).

Program Administration

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) administers the CSP through the NRCS State Conservationist for each state. The State Technical Committees make recommendations about the program to the State Conservationist. Local NRCS offices located in most counties work directly with applicants

Funding for CSP

The Conservation Security Program is unique among conservation programs in that Congress passed it with no funding cap, similar to commodity subsidies. CSP was written into law as an entitlement program, available to all who qualify. However, in practice, the CSP has been capped each year since its inception through the appropriations process.

Criteria for Eligibility

Private agricultural land (including cropland, grassland, prairie land, improved pasture land, and rangeland), land under the jurisdiction of Indian tribe, and forested land that is an incidental part of the agricultural operation is eligible for enrollment in CSP. Land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, Wetlands Reserve Program, and Grassland Reserve Program, and land converted to cropland after the enactment of the CSP legislation is not eligible.

As written in the 2002 Farm Bill, any farmer or rancher can develop a Conservation Security Plan and seek approval from their local NRCS office. An annual payment would include a per-acre base payment, a cost share payment for new conservation practices, and enhanced payments for extra conservation activities. As described in the law, each CSP contract must address one or more resource concerns, as designated by the NRCS. A combination of conservation practices would have to be implemented that together achieve a non-degradation level for each resource.

For updates on CSP see http://www.mnproject.org/csp/

Who to Contact

Loni Kemp, The Minnesota Project, (507) 743-8300,
Ferd Hoefner, Director, Sustainable Agriculture Coalition,
Mike McGrath, The Minnesota Project, (507) 467-3576,

Resources on the Internet