USDA · conservation program · CSP
Conservation Stewardship Program
CSP - a USDA conservation farm program administered by the Farm Service Agency. How it works, who it serves, and where the federal dollars go.
What the CSP Program Data Shows
The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) is a conservation program administered by the USDA Farm Service Agency, and the data compiled on this page draws directly from the Farm Income and Wealth Statistics series published by the USDA Economic Research Service. CSP encourages farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners to address resource concerns by undertaking additional conservation activities and improving, maintaining, and managing existing conservation practices. Fiscal-year 2023 government payments by state are visible in the table below, drawn from the latest USDA ERS release reported by ERS and cross-checked against FSA county-level obligations. These are not academic estimates, they are the dollars that actually moved from the US Treasury into farmer and rancher accounts during the reporting period.
State concentration of conservation dollars matters more than the national total. The top three recipients - Texas ($1.2B in fiscal-year 2023 government payments), Oklahoma ($823M in fiscal-year 2023 government payments), Kansas ($727M in fiscal-year 2023 government payments) - receive a disproportionate share because their production profiles align with the commodities and acreages covered by CSP. For analysts, that geographic concentration is the headline: Farm Bill negotiations repeatedly revolve around whether a conservation-heavy program continues at current levels, tightens its eligibility rules, or sees its funding shifted into other Titles of the statute.
Reading CSP data in isolation misses the full picture. USDA farm policy is a stack of overlapping programs, commodity, conservation, insurance, and disaster, and any individual program's payments should be compared against total farm program receipts per state, net farm income, and the crop-insurance loss ratio to see whether federal support is cushioning a price shock, compensating for a weather event, or paying for long-term land stewardship. Use the state links in the table below and the Farm Bill and subsidy guides in the sidebar to see how CSP fits into each recipient state's full federal-support portfolio before drawing conclusions about program effectiveness or equity.
About This Program
CSP encourages farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners to address resource concerns by undertaking additional conservation activities and improving, maintaining, and managing existing conservation practices.
States by Total Payments
States ranked by total government payments (fiscal year 2023). Conservation Stewardship Program payments are included in the totals below.
Top 10 states by total USDA payments (fiscal year 2023)
| # | State | Total Payments |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | $1.2B |
| 2 | Oklahoma | $823M |
| 3 | Kansas | $727M |
| 4 | Iowa | $725M |
| 5 | California | $666M |
| 6 | Nebraska | $624M |
| 7 | South Dakota | $590M |
| 8 | Arkansas | $509M |
| 9 | Minnesota | $508M |
| 10 | Missouri | $505M |
Source: USDA Farm Service Agency, Farm Income and Wealth Statistics (1995-2024) USDA Farm Service Agency, Farm Income and Wealth Statistics (1995-2024)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)?
The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) is a USDA conservation program. CSP encourages farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners to address resource concerns by undertaking additional conservation activities and improving, maintaining, and managing existing conservation practices.
Who administers the CSP program?
The Conservation Stewardship Program is administered by the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA). Farmers and ranchers apply through their local FSA county office. Eligibility and payment calculations vary by program rules set in the Farm Bill.
How does the CSP differ from other USDA programs?
The CSP falls under the conservation category of USDA programs. Conservation programs reward farmers for environmental stewardship, unlike commodity programs that protect crop prices or disaster programs that respond to losses.
Which states receive the most from USDA conservation programs?
The top recipients of USDA payments tend to be major agricultural states. Leading states by total government payments include Texas ($1.2B), Oklahoma ($823M), Kansas ($727M). State rankings vary by program category.
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Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the USDA Farm Service Agency. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Every figure on PlainFarmData is rendered directly from the USDA Census of Agriculture and farm-subsidy program data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on USDA Farm Service Agency source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.