Raritan Watershed Farmers Can Apply for Benefits 

through the Conservation Security Program

Tony Kramer, New Jersey State Conservationist for USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced that farmers in the Raritan may apply for benefits through the Conservation Security Program (CSP) between February 13 and March 31, 2006. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced the 2006 Conservation Security Program sign-up yesterday for 60 watersheds nationwide. “Last year NRCS initiated CSP in New Jersey in the Cohansey-Maurice Watershed,” Kramer said. “We are pleased to offer this program to conservation-minded farmers in New Jersey’s Raritan Watershed this year.”The sign-up period was set early in the season before most planting decisions are made in order to encourage participation among conservation leaders. The Raritan Basin Watershed, selected for CSP program funding in 2006, covers approximately 1100 square miles and includes parts of seven counties.  Approximately 19% of the Watershed is in agricultural land use, mostly along the North Branch and South Branch of the Raritan River.

Farmers can qualify for CSP benefits by applying and documenting high levels of on-farm conservation and management with the ability to earn increased payments by adding and/or expanding conservation activities. Minimum soil and water resource eligibility criteria apply. CSP participants may receive as much as $45,000 annually for a period of ten years.  

Interested producers must bring a completed CSP self-assessment workbook to their local NRCS office in order to sign up for the program. The self-assessment workbook is available at any USDA Service Center or at www.nj.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/csp . NRCS has other tools to assist prospective applicants, such as application forms, eligibility requirements, and payments schedules, available for review and download on their website. After the application materials are reviewed and accepted, an eligibility interview will be scheduled. At the interview, producers will be required to have records demonstrating their eligibility for the program.

For further information, please contact Janice Reid, Assistant State Conservationist for Programs at (732) 537-6042 or Nicole Ciccaglione, District Conservationist, Freehold (732) 462-0075 x 115.

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