North Dakota Upset by CSP Changes

FARGO - Mar 4/04 - SNS -- North Dakota's Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson expressed deep disappointment with proposed changes to the Conservation Security Program (CSP).

"USDA's proposed rules fall short of capturing Congress' intent to make the program available to producers nationwide, to allow producers to achieve conservation goals by enrolling in the program, and to provide meaningful stewardship incentives for program participants," Johnson said in a letter to USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

"The theory of 'rewarding the best and motivating the rest' does little to improve producer access to the program and allows a large part of the nation's working agriculture lands to remain unprotected. Increasing the number of producers enrolled in the program will increase the amount of protection of the nation's natural resources for future generations."

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