The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Ohio Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is accepting applications from landowners interested in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) to build on existing conservation efforts to increase operational efficiencies and environmental benefits as well as reduce overall input costs.

This year, Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding is providing additional financial opportunities for select conservation practices and enhancements to increase direct climate mitigation benefits. The deadline to receive fiscal year 2023 funding for both CSP-Classic and CSP-IRA is April 7, 2023.

Through CSP, agricultural producers and forest landowners earn payments for actively managing, maintaining, and expanding conservation activities like cover crops, ecologically-based pest management, buffer strips, and pollinator and beneficial insect habitat – all while maintaining active agriculture and forestry production on their land.

Learn more about the CSP-Classic and CSP-IRA application process and eligible land use resource concerns on the Ohio NRCS Conservation Stewardship Program webpage. Landowners in Clermont County who are interested in signing up or learning about other technical and financial assistance available through NRCS should contact Christina Gates, District Conservationist, at christina.gates@usda.gov or (513) 732-2181 ext. 3.