LANSING — Farmers and private forest owners may be eligible for the USDA Conservation Stewardship Program.

The Conservation Stewardship Program provides annual payments to producers to maintain the conservation they already have in place.

The program then provides financial assistance for applying additional conservation activities to address one additional resource concern on each land use.

The 2018 Farm Bill made several changes to this program, including higher payment rates for cover crop and resource conserving crop rotations.

The current deadline for submitting a Conservation Stewardship Program is May 10. Producers who are selected to enroll in the program will receive their first annual payment after Oct. 1.

If you are interested in applying or have questions about the Conservation Stewardship Program contact your local NRCS field office.