Conservation Security Program

Conservation Security Program Producer Self-Assessment Workshop

Conservation Security Program • Self Assessment process will assist producer in determining eligibility prior to completing application at NRCS office • Self Assessment involves answering a series of questions (Yes, No or NA) relating to the land being offered into CSP • NA = Not Applicable

Self Assessment Workbook Available in NRCS offices • Hardcopy • CD-ROM Available on-line • www.ut.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/csp/index.html

Self Assessment Process Step 1 - Determine Initial Eligibility Step 2 - Assess Land Use Step 3 - Describe Your Operation Step 4 - Submit Application

Step 1 – Determine Initial Eligibility • Initial eligibility looks at: • Producer Eligibility (4 questions) • Land Eligibility (4 questions) • Underlined word(s) in questions are in glossary for further explanation • Glossary begins on page 25 of workbook

Producer Eligibility 1. Do you share in the risk of producing crops or livestock on this operation? Definition:An owner, operator, landlord, tenant, or sharecropper who materially participates and shares in the risk of producing any crop or livestock; and is entitled to share in the crop or livestock available for marketing from a farm (or would have shared had the crop or livestock been produced).

ProducerEligibility • Are you entitled to share in the crop or livestock available for marketing from the agriculture operation? Definition:“Agricultural land, and other lands determined by the NRCS Chief, under the control of the participant and operated with equipment, labor, accounting systems, and management that is substantially separate from any other unit.”

Producer Eligibility • Do you have control of some or all of the land you manage for the life of the proposed 5 to 10 year contract period? Definition:The CSP participant does not need to own eligible land, but must demonstrate control of the land for the life of the CSP contract through ownership, lease or proof of a long-standing relationship as determined by NRCS. If the applicant is a tenant, the applicant must provide NRCS with the written evidence or assurance of control from the landowner.

Producer Eligibility • Is your average adjusted gross income less than or equal to $2.5 million, or if greater than $2.5 million, did 75% come from farming, ranching or forestry? Definition:3-year average of the adjusted gross income or comparable measure of the individual or entity over 3 preceding tax years (3 years before the year for which benefits are requested)

Land Eligibility • Is at least part of your land private agricultural land or Tribal land? Definition:Land must be private agricultural land (including cropland, grassland, prairie land, improved pasture land and rangeland), land under jurisdiction of an Indian tribe or forested land that is an incidental part of an agricultural operation.

Land Eligibility • Is your land in compliance with the highly erodible land and wetland conservation provisions of the 1985 Farm Bill? • Answer NA if not Highly Erodible Land (NHEL) or if not considered wetlands

Land Eligibility • Was your cropland used for crop production or considered cropland as part of a long-term rotation for 4 out of the last 6 years prior to May 13, 2002? • Must be planted or considered planted to an agricultural commodity • Considered cropland if land is in cropland or set aside for cropland. May be hayland that is part of a long-term rotation.

Land Eligibility • Is this land currently enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, Wetlands Reserve Program or Grassland Reserve Program? • Land enrolled in CRP, WRP or GRP cannot be part of the CSP contract. Other land in your operation may be eligible. End of Initial Eligibility Assessment

Initial Eligibility Answers • Yes • Yes • Yes • Yes • Yes • Yes or na – In compliance OR none of this land is HEL or considered wetlands • Yes or na – Cropland meets criteria OR land is not cropland • No or na If answers vary from those shown, you may not be eligible for CSP at this time

Step 2 – Assess Land Use • What kind of land uses do you manage? • Cropland (including hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Pastureland • Rangeland • Farmstead, Headquarters or Livestock Feeding and Handling Areas • Each land use has a series of questions to determine if the land you wish to enroll in CSP meets the basic requirements

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Managing Fertilizers and Nutrients • 8 questions • Managing Pests • 4 questions • Managing Crops and Soil • 9 questions • Managing Irrigation • 5 questions

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards Managing Fertilizers and Nutrients • Do you keep written records or documentation of your nutrient management activities for each field, such as yields, soil analysis, plant tissue analysis and nutrients applied – including animal waste? • At least two years of records must be provided from two out of the last three years

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Are you managing nutrients (for example, adding supplemental nitrogen) by following a nutrient management plan or schedule that budgets nutrients based on soil and crop needs, and environmental risks? • Plan accounts for amount, source, timing and method of applying nutrients

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Do you conduct soil tests and/or plant tissue tests? • A minimum of once every five years on fields where fertilizers or animal manures are applied • Answer N/A if no fertilizers or manure are applied

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • If you have abandoned or active water wells in your cropland, orchard or vineyard, have you taken adequate steps to protect ground water? • Abandoned wells should be capped for future use or decommissioned • Wells should have an anti-siphon device installed • Nutrient and chemical setbacks should be in place (100 feet)

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • If you land apply animal manure or waste, are you following a waste utilization plan that includes adequate setbacks from surface waters and other hydrologically-active areas (including sinkholes, karst topography, ground water recharge areas, wetlands and wellheads)?

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • If cropland, vineyards or orchards are grazed, are you managing livestock access to rivers, streams and other surface water? • Are you preventing degradation of the river, stream, or other surface water through such activities as fencing, herding, watering ramps or points, managing riparian pastures separately, timing of access, or use exclusion

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • If cropland, vineyards or orchards are grazed, are you following a grazing plan which includes the following? • Selecting kinds of domestic animals suited to the terrain, climate and other existing grazing area conditions

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Other grazing plan criteria • Optimizing grazing distribution through placement of watering facilities, fences or herding techniques • Are all areas grazed evenly

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Other grazing plan criteria • Identifying periods of grazing, rest and other treatment for each management unit • As shown by records • Identifying and maintaining adequate cover on sensitive areas (riparian, wetland and other habitats of concern) • Minimum of 4-6” stubble height • Is there evidence of erosion occurring in sensitive areas due to livestock grazing? • Plant community is intact

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Other grazing plan criteria • Not negatively impacting any cultural resource or sensitive species • Identifying and monitoring key areas and key plants to evaluate grazing management decisions • Be able to compare the stubble height of key plants in your fields with stubble heights listed in the Prescribed Grazing standard

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • If cropland, vineyards or orchards are grazed, are livestock prevented from direct access to sinkholes, unprotected wells, or other direct conduits to ground water?

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Do you keep written records or documentation of your pesticide application and pest control methods for each field? • At least two years of records out of the last three years are required • N/A if pesticides are not used Managing Pests

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Are you following a pest management plan or schedule that includes, as needed, insects, invasive species and weeds? • Pest management plan may include rate, method, timing, risk assessment, integrated pest management, appropriate mitigation and recordkeeping

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Are you scouting for pests and using the information as a basis for applying pesticides? • N/A if pesticides are not used

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Have you assessed the environmental risks of pesticide use on your cropland, vineyards or orchards, and addressed any risks with appropriate measures? • Assessing risk may include analyzing soil characteristics, pesticide properties, management factors and climate • Addressing risks may include scouting, spot treatment, biological controls and selecting reduced-risk chemicals • See list of pesticide/soil interactions and appropriate measures

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Do you grow high residue crops at least 1 in 3 years in rotation, apply a mulch, use a cover crop annually, and/or have hay/pasture in rotation? • High residue crops can include corn, small grains, alfalfa, and or grass Managing Crops and Soil

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Do you maintain cover between the rows of your vineyards or orchards? • This is not an issue in our watershed • Should be answered N/A

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Do you include any of the following in your crop rotation: • No-till, strip-till, direct seeding or mulch-till • Perennial sod or hay in rotation • Add organic soil amendments such as manure or compost • Grow cover and green manure crops to improve the soil • If none of the above, do your soil tests indicate an increase in organic matter?

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • If you are in an area of saline or sodic soils, do you monitor soil salinity levels? • Must meet 50% IWM enhancement criteria

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • If you have saline soils, do you use one or more of these techniques to manage salinity: managing your irrigation and drainage water, deep tillage, crop selection, reduction in fallow, and/or soil amendments or planting salt tolerant crops?

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Do you avoid operating equipment in your cropland, vineyards or orchards when soils are wet to reduce soil compaction?

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Is sheet and rill erosion controlled? • Sheet erosion is the removal of a uniform thin layer of soil from the land surface by rainfall and surface runoff • Rill erosion refers to the numerous small channels formed from surface runoff • Rusle2 is used to determine the amount of erosion occurring. Ask an NRCS employee for assistance with the Rusle2 program.

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Is wind erosion controlled? • The Wind Erosion Equation is used to determine the amount of wind erosion occurring. Ask an NRCS employee for assistance with the wind erosion equation.

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Have you stabilized or treated ephemeral erosion or classic gullies on your operation? • Ephemeral erosion is formed from the concentration of surface water when rills converge. Generally removed with tillage operations and re-formed again (Normally treated by installing terraces or mulch till practices) • Classic gullies are well-defined, permanent drainageways that cannot be crossed by ordinary farming operations (Is there vegetation growing in the gully bottom and no active head cutting)

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Do you inspect and make repairs to your irrigation system at least annually? • Do you keep records of irrigation dates and irrigation amounts applied relative to the crop growth stage? Managing Irrigation

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Do you adjust your irrigation management for nutrient and pesticide applications? • By adjusting timing of irrigation or timing of nutrient or pesticide application

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Do you control irrigation induced erosion, by using a cover crop, perennial cover, polyacrylamide (PAM), residue management or irrigation water management?

Cropland (including Hayland), Vineyards or Orchards • Are you following an irrigation water management plan? • Must meet an irrigation index rating of 50% (Ask an NRCS employee for assistance with this) End of Self Assessment for Cropland If you answered “no” to any of the previous questions, you may not be eligible for CSP at this time.

Pastureland • Managing Fertilizers and Nutrients • 9 questions • Managing Pests • 4 questions • Managing Forage and Soil • 7 questions • Managing Irrigation • 4 questions

Pastureland Managing Water Quality • Are you following a grazing plan which includes the following? • Selecting kinds of domestic animals suited to the terrain, climate and other existing grazing area conditions

Pastureland Managing Water Quality • Other grazing plan criteria • Optimizing grazing distribution through placement of watering facilities, fences or herding techniques • No areas of the pasture are overused • Using techniques such as salt block placement and shade and shelter placement to optimize grazing distribution

Pastureland • Other grazing plan criteria • Identifying periods of grazing, rest and other treatment for each management unit • As shown by records • Identifying and maintaining adequate cover on sensitive areas (riparian, wetland and other habitats of concern) • Minimum of 4-6” stubble height • Is there evidence of erosion occurring in sensitive areas due to livestock grazing? • Plant community is intact

Pastureland • Other grazing plan criteria • Not negatively impacting any cultural resource or sensitive species • Identifying and monitoring key areas and key plants to evaluate grazing management decisions • Identify the key plants in the pasture • Be able to compare the stubble height of key plants in your fields with stubble heights listed in the Prescribed Grazing standard

Pastureland • Is forage availability balanced with livestock and wildlife demands (forage and animal balance, including a forage production estimate, has been made, livestock numbers are identified and wildlife numbers are estimated)? • As shown by records

Conservation Security Program