A new farmbill brings a new program.

Ag. Reporter Sarah Gustin introduces you to the Conservation Stewardship Program.

Farmers and ranchers are getting the chance to get paid for doing good. The new Conservation Stewardship Program pays producers cash for taking care of their land. (Jennifer Heglund / Asst. State Conservationist) "It's very competitive. So what we do is we run it through a conservation measurement tool in which we look at the conservation activities they are already doing and what they want to do and we tally up the points. And that is what makes one application more attractive then another for funding." Nationwide more than 12 million acres could be enrolled in the CSP program

North Dakota's 2010 allocation is nearly 550-thousand acres

Heglund says they received more than 400 applications...more than 250 were accepted

(Jennifer Heglund / Asst. State Conservationist) "I am not surprised at all here in North Dakota because our conservation stewardship level has been quite high. We have always had a lot of interest in conservation programs and people are willing to do what they need to do to make their farmland sustainable into the future." The program pays producers for the improvements they have made and the conservation efforts they plan on implementing

Heglund says crop rotations, no-till farming and solar energy for water pumps are just a few examples

(Jennifer Heglund / Asst. State Conservationist) "The conservation efforts that have been done in the past, the practices that they have put in the past, they have done no-till, they have done water developments, they have done fencing. Those sort of things add up in the points to make them more attractive to get a contract." Heglund says payments are based on the level of conservation that they promote on their farm. Producers can earn up to 40-thousand dollars a year or as much as 200-thousand dollars during the 5 year contract

Annual payments for cropland enrolled range from 12 to 22 dollars an acre

6 to 14 dollars is paid per acre for rangelands

Heglund says the once a year payment will be provided after the conservation enhancements for that year are installed. In Bismarck for KX News I am Sarah Gustin.

CSP operates under continous sign-up so you can sign up whenever it's convenient for you.

The next funding cycle is expected to begin around the 15th of January. watch the video | save this article / add to your favorites list