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FederalRolling / continuousAnnual payment / contractNationwide

Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Pays growers already practicing good stewardship to maintain and add new conservation enhancements — crop rotations, reduced tillage, habitat plantings. Best fit for farms with an existing conservation track record.

Typical award
Annual per-acre payments over a 5-year contract; minimum $4,000/year for many contracts
Deadline
Rolling sign-up — state batching cutoffs, often late winter
Type of support
Funding / grants · Conservation & soil health
Who can apply
Individual producer, Beginning / underserved, Tribal
Fits these operations
Vegetables & produce, Cut flowers, Orchard & fruit, Mixed / diversified, Value-added & food business, Urban farm

Am I eligible?

  • Operate private or tribal agricultural land
  • Can document existing conservation activities
  • Willing to meet or exceed stewardship thresholds

How to apply

  1. 1Schedule a site visit with NRCS
  2. 2Complete the Conservation Measurement Tool (CMT) assessment
  3. 3Select enhancements and bundle into a 5-year contract
  4. 4Implement and report annually

What you'll need

  • Farm records and conservation history
  • Field maps and cropping plans
  • Soil/water resource concerns list

Timeline & contact

Assessment 2–4 weeks; contract runs 5 years
Get help: USDA Service Center / local NRCS field office

Ready to apply?

Applications go through USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, not through this site. Open the official page below for eligibility rules, forms, and contacts. For federal programs it's worth calling your local USDA Service Center or Cooperative Extension office first — they help with paperwork for free and know what your county actually funds.

Open official page

This listing was last hand-checked August 2026.

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Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP)

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Producer sign-up depends on active projects in your area

Conservation funding delivered through local partner projects — watershed groups, land trusts, tribes. Producers enroll through the partner, which often means lighter paperwork than applying to NRCS alone.

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