The Conservation Security Program: An Assessment of Farmers' Experience with Program
Submitted by Marie Powell on Mon, 03/26/2007 - 13:53.
Summary:
Farmers share their viewpoints about the Conservation Security Program and problems they identified with program implementation during 2004-2006 sign-ups. Recommendations are included to guide USDA in improving CSP implementation.The Conservation Security Program (CSP) is a voluntary stewardship incentives program designed to reward farmers and ranchers for adoption of advanced conservation systems that provide environmental services benefiting the country as a whole. This landmark “green payments” program pays farmers for clean water, better soil management, improved habitat, energy efficiency, and other natural resource benefits. The CSP provides farm support in a manner consistent with the public interest and world trade rules and obligations.
At its heart, the purpose of CSP is to vastly improve farmland conservation and environmental protection by rewarding farmers across the country for long-term and steadily-improving conservation practices on their land over a period of years, based on carefully developed and reviewed conservation plans. However, several administrative policy decisions and congressionally-approved funding cuts have limited the program severely to the detriment of conservation minded farmers and ranchers.
We look at the program with the assistance of farmers’ perspective, provided through calls to the Center for Rural Affair’s sponsored National Conservation Hotline and enhanced by follow-up interviews. This study explores the farmers/ranchers experience with the 2004, 2005, and 2006 CSP sign-ups.
For this program to “reward the best and motivate the rest,” it is critical to learn from the farmers and ranchers who have explored and/or completed a CSP contract. Their perspective offers insights on CSP’s strengths, weaknesses and barriers that are delaying conservation on working land.
Read more in the full report attached below. For more information, contact Traci Bruckner, Assistant Policy program Director, at tracib@cfra.org or 402.687.2103 x 1016.
At its heart, the purpose of CSP is to vastly improve farmland conservation and environmental protection by rewarding farmers across the country for long-term and steadily-improving conservation practices on their land over a period of years, based on carefully developed and reviewed conservation plans. However, several administrative policy decisions and congressionally-approved funding cuts have limited the program severely to the detriment of conservation minded farmers and ranchers.
We look at the program with the assistance of farmers’ perspective, provided through calls to the Center for Rural Affair’s sponsored National Conservation Hotline and enhanced by follow-up interviews. This study explores the farmers/ranchers experience with the 2004, 2005, and 2006 CSP sign-ups.
For this program to “reward the best and motivate the rest,” it is critical to learn from the farmers and ranchers who have explored and/or completed a CSP contract. Their perspective offers insights on CSP’s strengths, weaknesses and barriers that are delaying conservation on working land.
Read more in the full report attached below. For more information, contact Traci Bruckner, Assistant Policy program Director, at tracib@cfra.org or 402.687.2103 x 1016.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| CSP_Report_farmerperspective.pdf | 80.07 KB |
