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CSP sign-up over, awards out by mid-September Monday, August 9, 2004
Agri News staff writer
Farmers who completed the Conservation Security Program application should know by mid-September whether or not they have been accepted.
Sign-up ended July 30 in the 18 pilot watersheds across the nation.
Natural Resources Conservation Service staff in Minnesota's Blue Earth Watershed, the state's only selected basin, are busy putting the finishing touches on the applications and preparing them for a mid-August submission, where they will be judged against other applications from across the nation.
In Watonwan County, district conservationist Phillis Brey is completing the three applications that came in. About 10 people met the eligibility criteria in the county, which includes just a sliver of the Blue Earth Watershed.
"I hope to get them all funded and in the program," Brey said.
She worked hard to get the word out about the program, going door-to-door to deliver self-assessments and sending out mailings.
"I couldn't have done it without the soil and water (conservation district employees)," Brey said.
In other districts, extra staff were brought in to help.
About 10 people worked on CSP sign-up at different times in Martin County, said district conservationist Ryan Kruse. More than 850 people in the county were eligible to sign-up for the conservation program that rewards people for stewardship on working lands, Kruse said. Roughly 150 returned their applications.
"There's a lot of work to get these records to be eligible even," he said.
Farmers needed to bring a laundry list of items to their NRCS appointment, including: Aerial photos, information about practices installed and written records of management practices used.
Money motivated farmers to fill out the application and dig for records, Kruse said. The main question he heard was, "is the money going to make it worth my time?" He left farmers to answer that question for themselves.
In Watonwan County, money wasn't a big issue. Paperwork was.
Farmers complained "there was too much paperwork involved," Brey said.
An issue with nitrogen fertilizer application rates may have kept others away, evidenced by a late rush in applications.
State conservationist William Hunt changed one of the requirements in the self-assessment in the 11th hour, allowing Minnesota farmers to follow the higher Iowa State University nitrogen recommendations and still qualify. The change brought 50 people to 60 people into the Faribault County conservation office over the last two days of sign-up, said district conservationist Jason Sickmann. About 130 people signed up, of the close to 650 who were potentially eligible. All 130 may not follow through, Sickmann said.
"I think we had a pretty good sign-up," he said.
Finding enough people to do the work has been a challenge in Faribault County, Sickmann said. Three people were processing applications Thursday, and two more were needed.
He estimated it took at least an hour to talk with producers after they completed the self-assessment, another hour to complete tillage and nutrient worksheets, a third hour to run calculations after the farmer left and a fourth hour talking to the producer before final application submission.
Fifteen to 20 applications still needed to be completed in Freeborn County. Thirty-seven farmers inquired about the program and 15 to 17 decided not to pursue it, said Lawrence Svien, area resource conservationist.
"I think it could have been more, I think there's some people who are holding back, waiting to see what was going to transpire," said Svien, one of five people who worked with the CSP sign-up in Freeborn County. More than 200 people may have been eligible to apply.
He likens the initial CSP sign-up to the initial Conservation Reserve Program sign-up. He was the district conservationist in Wabasha County at the time and only 18 people came in. For the fourth sign-up two years later, 180 people applied.
"Not everybody is going to jump on a new program right away," Svien said. |
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