FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Michael Happ
mhapp@sustainableagriculture.net
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
NSAC Releases Farmers’ Guide to Conservation Stewardship Program
Publication helps farmers apply for nation’s largest working lands conservation program
Thursday, November 19th, 2020 — As farmers start signing up for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) across the country, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) today released its updated Farmers’ Guide to CSP. With interest growing nationwide in farming practices that can protect natural resources and reduce the impacts of climate change, this is a key time for producers to explore CSP. This guide is a resource for farmers who want to learn more about CSP or who are thinking about enrolling in the program.
Since the inception of the program, NSAC has been a strong advocate for CSP, the country’s largest private lands conservation program. CSP is designed to reward farmers who apply a conservation ethic across their entire operation. CSP does this by offering 5 year payments to producers who take on highly beneficial conservation practices on their farms that build soil health, improve water quality, and benefit wildlife: practices such as cover crops, conservation buffers, rotational grazing, and many others.
NSAC has long worked to make the program effective so it can maximize its impact on the sustainability of farms and ranches across the United States. As Congress and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have made changes to the program, NSAC has updated its Farmers’ Guide to accurately reflect the program and how it works.
As in previous years, this version of the guide helps walk through the application and implementation processes for CSP. There are also several additions to the guide in 2020:
- Easy-to-read graphics explaining the program
- A full list of CSP-eligible practices
- Profiles of farmers who use CSP
- A walk-through of how to sign up for CSP
- An explanation of the new ranking tool, “CART”
- Details on special CSP considerations for farmers of color
- How CSP benefits beginning farmers and ranchers
- CSP for organic farmers
- Recent changes to the program
- …and much more!
If you or a farmer you know are interested in enrolling in CSP or renewing their existing contract, we recommend taking a look at this new guide!
The Farmers’ Guide to CSP is available for free download on the NSAC website at: https://sustainableagriculture.net/publications/.
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About the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC):
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is a grassroots alliance that advocates for federal policy reform supporting the long-term social, economic, and environmental sustainability of agriculture, natural resources, and rural communities.
Learn more: https://sustainableagriculture.net