United States Department of Agriculture

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service offers voluntary Farm Bill 

conservation programs that benefit both agricultural producers and the environment.

Benefits

Through CSP, participants take additional steps to improve the resource conditions 

on their land—including soil, air and habitat quality, water quality and quantity, 

and energy conservation.

CSP provides two types of payments through five-year contracts: annual payments 

for installing new conservation activities and maintaining existing practices; 

and supplemental payments for adopting a resource-conserving crop rotation. 

Producers may be able to renew a contract if they have successfully fulfilled the 

initial contract and agree to achieve additional conservation objectives. Payments 

are made soon as practical after October 1 of each fiscal year for contract activities 

installed and maintained in the previous year.

Overview

The Conservation Stewardship 

Program (CSP) helps agricultural 

producers maintain and improve 

their existing conservation 

systems and adopt additional 

conservation activities to 

address priority resources 

concerns. Participants earn 

CSP payments for conservation 

performance—the higher the 

performance, the higher the 

payment. 

Conservation Stewardship Program

Helping People Help the Land

March 2014

CSP
NRCS can help producers conserve water with efficient irrigation systems.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. 

www.nrcs.usda.gov.

How to Apply

Visit your local USDA Service Center 

to apply or visit 

www.nrcs.usda.gov/getstarted.

More Information

For For more information visit your 

local USDA Service Center or 

www.nrcs.usda.gov/farmbill.

Find Your Local USDA Service 

Center

http://offices.usda.govnd

What’s New in CSP 

The 2014 Farm Bill increased the 

program’s focus on generating 

additional conservation benefits, 

removed the limitation on the number 

of nonindustrial private forestland 

acres that can be enrolled in CSP, 

and increased flexibility to enroll 

land coming out of the Conservation 

Reserve Program. 

Payment Limit: A person or legal entity 

may not receive more than $200,000 

during fiscal years 2014 through 2018.

Eligibility

Eligible lands include private and 

Tribal agricultural lands, cropland, 

grassland, pastureland, rangeland 

and nonindustrial private forest 

land. CSP is available to all 

producers, regardless of operation 

size or type of crops produced, 

in all 50 states, the District of 

Columbia and the Caribbean and 

Pacific Island areas. Applicants may 

include individuals, legal entities, 

joint operations or Indian tribes that 

meet the stewardship threshold 

for at least two priority resource 

concerns when they apply. They 

must also agree to meet or exceed 

the stewardship threshold for at 

least one additional priority resource 

concern by the end of the contract.

Producers must have effective 

control of the land for the term of 

the proposed contract. Contracts 

include all eligible land in the agricultural operation.

Additional restrictions and program 

requirements may apply.