The USDA's Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) has extended its deadline for enrollments in the Conservation Stewardship Program to January 27. An earlier deadline of January 13 had been announced.

The Conservation Stewardship Program, or CSP, provides technical and financial assistance to qualified farmers; payments are based on current conservation practices and a commitment to do more conservation in future years.

"This is good news for farmers in Illinois." said Claudia Emken, conservation policy advocate at Illinois Stewardship Alliance. "This gives them more time to apply for CSP and receive funding for the good conservation work they are already doing; We encourage farmers to contact NRCS to learn more about the program."

Self screening is available on the NRCS website and will help determine if the farm under consideration is eligible.

Illinois has nearly 1,000 participants in CSP now, covering almost 600,000 acres. Conservation Stewardship Program contracts run for five years, and nationally pay an average of $18 per acre for cropland and pastureland and $4 per acre for privately owned forestland, although payments vary significantly depending on the level of conservation.

Farmers and private forestland owners can apply to the Conservation Stewardship Program anytime by going to their local NRCS office. To be considered for funding in this ranking period, applications must be submitted prior to January 27, 2012.

Illinois Stewardship Alliance recognized Kent Bohnhoff, district conservationist for USDA - NRCS in McLean County, at the Agriculture Day Awards Program on August 16 at the Illinois State Fair.  Kent received Illinois Stewardship Alliance’s first Conservation Stewardship District Conservationist of the Year Award for his assistance to producers and operators in McLean County to enroll in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). McLean County has more CSP contracts than any other county in the State of Illinois.

The Conservation Stewardship Program is a voluntary program that offers payments to producers/operators who demonstrate excellence in land stewardship and who agree to do even more. CSP is available to all producers regardless of operation type, crops produced, or geographic location. For more detailed program criteria for the Conservation Stewardship Program, visit www.il.nrcs.usda.gov or contact the county NRCS office at the USDA Service Center.

Though not able to attend the State Fair, Robert Mount from Vienna, IL, is the first recipient of the Conservation Stewardship Farmer of the Year Award. Robert is a fourth generation farmer who enrolled in CSP in 2009. He qualified for CSP because of his conservation practices on the 1,000 acres he farms in Southern Illinois, much of which is highly erodible land. Conservation tillage, crop rotation, native prairie planting and wetland restoration are some of the practices on his land.