DURHAM, N.H. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture will make available $100 million this year through the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and although applications are accepted all year, farmers, ranchers and forest landowners should submit applications by Feb. 27, 2015 to ensure they are considered for this year’s funding (applications received after that date will be considered for future funding). This year’s investment may result in the enrollment of up to 7.7 million acres in the program by private landowners.
“CSP is a way of encouraging farmers, ranchers, and private forest managers who maintain a high level of conservation on their land to agree to adopt even higher levels of stewardship,” said Rick Ellsmore, State Conservationist of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in New Hampshire. “By focusing on multiple resource concerns, landowners are able to achieve a sustainable landscape and maintain or increase the productivity of their operations. CSP producers are conservation leaders, showing how science-based conservation and technological advancements can improve the environment and farming operations at the same time.”
Through CSP, participants take additional conservation steps to improve the resource conditions on their land, including soil, air and habitat quality, water quality and quantity, and energy conservation.
The 2014 Farm Bill brought changes to CSP including an expanded conservation activity list that will offer participants greater options to meet their conservation needs and protect the natural resources on their land. These conservation activities, called enhancements, include cover crops, intensive rotational grazing and wildlife friendly fencing.
“CSP is a great addition to our conservation toolbox for our Landscape Conservation Initiatives, which rally together landowners at the broader level to make conservation improvements that help us tackle our nation’s resource issues,” Ellsmore said. “Historically, other conservation programs have driven these initiatives, but now with CSP, we’ll be bringing more farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to these efforts.”
Applications should be submitted to local NRCS offices. As part of the CSP application process, applicants will work with NRCS field personnel to complete a resource inventory of their land, which will help determine the conservation performance for existing and new conservation activities. The applicant’s conservation performance will be used to determine eligibility, ranking and payments.
A CSP self-screening checklist is available to help producers determine if the program is suitable for their operation. The checklist highlights basic information about CSP eligibility requirements, stewardship threshold requirements and payment types.
For more on technical and financial assistance available through conservation programs, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov/GetStarted or a local USDA service center.
Today’s announcement was made possible by the 2014 Farm Bill. The 2014 Farm Bill builds on historic economic gains in rural America over the past five years, while achieving meaningful reform and billions of dollars in savings for taxpayers. Since enactment, USDA has made significant progress to implement each provision of this critical legislation, including providing disaster relief to farmers and ranchers; strengthening risk management tools; expanding access to rural credit; funding critical research; establishing innovative public-private conservation partnerships; developing new markets for rural-made products; and investing in infrastructure, housing and community facilities to help improve quality of life.
New Hampshire NRCS Field Service Centers:
Concord Field Service Center
Serving Merrimack and Belknap Counties
10 Ferry St., Suite 211Concord, NH 03301
Merrimack County: 603-223-6023
Chad Cochrane, District Conservationist
603-447-2771
chad.cochrane@nh.usda.gov
Belknap County:
Bill Hoey, Soil Conservationist
603-223-6022
william.hoey@nh.usda.gov
Conway Field Service Center
Serving Carroll and Belknap Counties
73 Main St.
Conway, NH 03818
Nels Liljedahl, District Conservationist
603-447-2771
nels.liljedahl@nh.usda.gov
Epping Field Service Center
Serving Rockingham and
Strafford Counties
629 Calef Highway, Suite 203
Epping, NH 03042
Dan Wright, District Conservationist
603-679-1587
daniel.wright@nh.usda.gov
Lancaster Field Service Center
Serving Coos County
4 Mayberry Lane
Lancaster, NH 03584
Mike Harrington, District Conservationist
603-788-4651
michael.harrington@nh.usda.gov
Milford Field Service Center
Serving Hillsborough County
#468, Rte. 13 South
Milford, NH 03055
Chad Cochrane, District Conservationist
603-673-2409
chad.cochrane@nh.usda.gov
Orford Field Service Center
Serving Grafton County
19 Archertown Rd., Suite 1
Orford, NH 03777
Beth Ann Finlay, District Conservationist
603-353-4651
bethann.finlay@nh.usda.gov
Walpole Field Service Center
Serving Cheshire and Sullivan Counties
11 Industrial Park Dr.
Walpole, NH 03608
Steve Pytlik, District Conservationist
603-756-2988
steven.pytlik@nh.usda.gov
—USDA NRCS New Hampshire
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