NRCS Chief Dave White Predicts Organic Producers Will Fare Well Under New Conservation Stewardship Program

NRCS Chief Dave White,
Photo from NRCS

Conservation lies at the heart of organic production systems, and that should bode well for farmers seeking funds and technical support through the revamped Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP).

The program, authorized in the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008, is administered through the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). NRCS Chief Dave White said organic practices like extensive crop rotation and buffer zone management are a natural fit with program goals.

“I think organic producers will rank high just because of the way that they are farming,” said White.

OFRF's Senior Policy Analyst, Mark Lipson, and Washington D.C. based Policy Associate, Ariane Lotti, recently interviewed White at NRCS headquarters.

OFRF's Ariane Lotti and Mark
Lipson interview Dave White at
NRCS headquarters.

White said he believed the reconfigured conservation initiative will eventually emerge as the NRCS’s flagship program.

Farmer sign-up for the new program began in mid-August and will run through September 30, 2009. 

White said that while the sign-up and implementation in year one of the new program might not be perfect, subsequent years will reveal it to be a crucial conservation tool for all American farmers.

“Every program I have had any experience with has gotten better over time, as you learn things that don’t work and things that do work. So my first one might be a little messy, but we’ll get over that. And we would really want to achieve the vision of the people who created this program,” said White.

White credited Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, with providing the vision for CSP, which rewards farmers for building environmental conservation practices into their farm operations.

(Details on the program and information on applying for CSP funds are available on our CSP Resource Page.)

The new CSP is an overhaul of an earlier program that was criticized for being too restrictive and unfriendly to organic producers.

The new program includes all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Caribbean and Pacific Island areas.  All producers can apply regardless of operation size, crops produced or geographic location.  It is aimed at encouraging agricultural and forestry producers to maintain existing environmental practices and add new ones. Enrollment is available for nearly 12.8 million acres annually.

As part of its effort to improve the program over time, the USDA is soliciting public comment on the program through September 28, 2009.

Additional portions of the Dave White interview will be posted at www.ofrf.org in coming weeks. A full write-up on White’s views concerning the emerging role of organics at Natural Resources Conservation Service will appear in OFRF’s Information Bulletin 17 this fall. A transcript of the Dave White interview will be made available on our website on a later date.