Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) in Illinois
The state-level CSP data only includes practices that had more than four contracts in a state for a particular year. Because of this, the data contained within the state pages will not sum up to the total payments by practice on the national page.
CSP payments by fiscal year in Illinois
CSP payments by county, 2017-2022
Practices and enhancements on CSP acres, 2017-2022, Illinois
| Rank | Practice | Payments, 2017-2022 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cropland Annual Payment | $157,447,714 |
| 2 | Existing Activity Payment-Land Use | $6,849,432 |
| 3 | Reduce risks of nutrient losses to surface water by utilizing precision ag technologies | $2,820,268 |
| 4 | Pasture Annual Payment | $1,927,990 |
| 5 | Existing Activity Payment-Resource Concern | $1,870,202 |
| 6 | Reduce risk of pesticides in surface water by utilizing precision pesticide application techniques | $1,355,705 |
| 7 | Improving nutrient uptake efficiency and reducing risks to air quality - emissions of GHGs | $1,317,377 |
| 8 | Cover Crop  | $1,097,716 |
| 9 | Non-Industrial Private Forest Land Annual Payment | $1,085,286 |
| 10 | Reduce risks of nutrient loss to surface water by utilizing precision agriculture technologies | $942,337 |
| 11 | Improving nutrient uptake efficiency and reducing risk of nutrient losses to surface water | $917,255 |
| 12 | Improved crop rotation to provide benefits to pollinators | $611,193 |
| 13 | Establish Monarch butterfly habitat | $545,364 |
| 14 | Improving nutrient uptake efficiency and reducing risk of nutrient losses | $484,192 |
| 15 | Farmstead | $464,430 |
| 16 | Associated Ag Land | $450,546 |
| 17 | Cover crop to suppress excessive weed pressures and break pest cycles | $415,621 |
| 18 | Reduce forest stand density to improve a degraded plant community | $344,966 |
| 19 | Crop tree management for mast production | $340,216 |
| 20 | Minimum Payment Adjustment | $298,757 |
| 21 | Cover crop to minimize soil compaction | $285,188 |
| 22 | Leave standing grain crops unharvested to benefit wildlife food sources | $252,507 |
| 23 | Reduced tillage to increase soil health and soil organic matter content | $224,375 |
| 24 | Reduce risk of pesticides in surface water by utilizing precision pesticide application techniques | $216,213 |
| 25 | Use of multi-species cover crops to improve soil health and increase soil organic matter | $179,339 |
| 26 | Establish Monarch butterfly habitat | $177,575 |
| 27 | Reduced tillage to increase soil health and soil organic matter content | $143,636 |
| 28 | Modifications to improve soil health and increase soil organic matter | $141,942 |
| 29 | Pastured Cropland Annual Payment | $140,273 |
| 30 | Modifications to improve soil health and increase soil organic matter | $139,328 |
| 31 | Cover crop to reduce water erosion | $134,159 |
| 32 | No till system to increase soil health and soil organic matter content | $129,355 |
| 33 | Residue and Tillage Management- No Till | $127,277 |
| 34 | Cover crop to suppress excessive weed pressures and break pest cycles | $112,989 |
| 35 | Intensive cover cropping to increase soil health and soil organic matter content | $111,112 |
| 36 | Cover crop to reduce water quality degradation by utilizing excess soil nutrients-surface water | $109,302 |
| 37 | Supplemental Payment | $103,599 |
| 38 | Reduced tillage to reduce water erosion | $89,297 |
| 39 | No till system to increase soil health and soil organic matter content | $78,072 |
| 40 | Improving nutrient uptake efficiency and reducing risk of nutrient losses to groundwater | $73,159 |
| 41 | Cover crop to reduce soil erosion | $71,561 |
| 42 | Leave standing grain crops unharvested to benefit wildlife | $70,088 |
| 43 | Nutrient Management | $68,576 |
| 44 | Pest Management Conservation System | $65,025 |
| 45 | Improved crop rotation to provide benefits to pollinators | $60,310 |
| 46 | Conservation Cover | $58,962 |
| 47 | Pasture and Hay Planting | $57,134 |
| 48 | Crop tree management for mast production  | $52,996 |
| 49 | Intensive cover cropping to increase soil health and soil organic matter content | $48,381 |
| 50 | No till to reduce water erosion | $48,011 |
| 51 | Use of SHA to assist with development of cover crop mix to improve soil health and increase SOM | $44,116 |
| 52 | Reduced tillage to reduce soil erosion | $43,702 |
| 53 | Reduce risk of pesticides in surface water by utilizing IPM PAMS techniques | $42,639 |
| 54 | Brush Management | $42,023 |
| 55 | Residue and Tillage Management- Reduced Till | $41,093 |
| 56 | Enhanced field borders to reduce water induced erosion along the edge(s) of a field | $40,676 |
| 57 | Use of multi-species cover crops to improve soil health and increase soil organic matter | $37,962 |
| 58 | Herbaceous Weed Treatment | $36,628 |
| 59 | Forest Stand Improvement | $35,623 |
| 60 | Conservation Crop Rotation | $34,764 |
| 61 | Leave standing grain crops unharvested to benefit wildlife cover and shelter | $32,518 |
| 62 | Reduce risk of pesticides in water and air by utilizing IPM PAMS techniques | $31,436 |
| 63 | Brush management for improved structure and composition | $30,601 |
| 64 | Conservation cover for pollinators and beneficial insects | $27,139 |
| 65 | Cover crop to reduce water quality degradation by utilizing excess soil nutrients | $26,872 |
| 66 | Herbaceous weed control (plant pest pressures) for desired plant communities/habitats | $26,091 |
| 67 | No till to reduce soil erosion | $25,822 |
| 68 | Extend existing filter strip to reduce water quality impacts | $18,114 |
| 69 | Resource conserving crop rotation | $18,018 |
| 70 | Brush management to improve wildlife habitat | $16,008 |
| 71 | Apply gypsum products to improve surface WQ quality by reducing dissolved P conc in surface runoff | $15,400 |
| 72 | Enhanced field borders to increase carbon storage along the edge(s) of the field | $14,962 |
| 73 | Conservation cover to provide food habitat for pollinators and beneficial insects | $14,750 |
| 74 | Soil health crop rotation | $13,843 |
| 75 | Herbaceous weed control for desired plant communities/habitats consistent with the ecological site | $13,555 |
| 76 | Cover crop to minimize soil compaction | $8,861 |
| 77 | Herbaceous weed treatment to create plant communities consistent with the ecological site | $4,451 |
| 78 | Native grasses or legumes in forage base | $4,397 |
| 79 | Field Border | $3,909 |
| 80 | Tree/Shrub Establishment | $3,404 |
| 81 | Forage and biomass planting for water erosion to improve soil health | $3,215 |
| 82 | Stockpiling cool season forage to improve structure and composition or plant productivity and health | $2,940 |
| 83 | Cover crop to reduce water quality degradation by utilizing excess soil nutrients-ground water | $2,816 |
| 84 | Conservation cover to provide cover and shelter habitat for pollinators and beneficial insects | $2,403 |
| 85 | Forage and biomass planting to reduce soil erosion or increase organic matter to build soil health | $2,335 |
| 86 | No till to reduce energy | $2,297 |
| 87 | Planting for high carbon sequestration rate | $1,850 |
| 88 | Prescribed Grazing | $1,432 |
| 89 | Prescribed Burning | $1,286 |
| 90 | Brush management that maintains or enhances wildlife or fish habitat | $1,266 |
| 91 | Critical Area Planting | $1,150 |
| 92 | Filter Strip | $1,028 |
| 93 | Forage plantings that help increase organic matter in depleted soils | $879 |
| 94 | Harvest of crops (hay or small grains) using measures that allow desired species to flush or escape | $648 |
| 95 | Roof Runoff Structure | $432 |
| 96 | Adding food-producing trees and shrubs to existing plantings | $167 |
| 97 | Tree/Shrub Pruning | $106 |
| Show All | ||
| Show Less | ||
| Total Payments, 2017-2022 | 185,969,683 | |
NRCS 2024 climate smart practice.
NRCS 2024 provisional climate smart practice.
NCRS climate smart practices on CSP acres, 2017-2022, Illinois
| Rank | Practice | Payments, 2017-2022 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cover Crop | $1,097,716 |
| 2 | Reduce risks of nutrient loss to surface water by utilizing precision agriculture technologies | $942,337 |
| 3 | Establish Monarch butterfly habitat | $545,364 |
| 4 | Improving nutrient uptake efficiency and reducing risk of nutrient losses | $484,192 |
| 5 | Reduced tillage to increase soil health and soil organic matter content | $224,375 |
| 6 | Modifications to improve soil health and increase soil organic matter | $141,942 |
| 7 | Residue and Tillage Management- No Till | $127,277 |
| 8 | Cover crop to suppress excessive weed pressures and break pest cycles | $112,989 |
| 9 | No till system to increase soil health and soil organic matter content | $78,072 |
| 10 | Cover crop to reduce soil erosion | $71,561 |
| 11 | Nutrient Management | $68,576 |
| 12 | Conservation Cover | $58,962 |
| 13 | Pasture and Hay Planting | $57,134 |
| 14 | Crop tree management for mast production | $52,996 |
| 15 | Intensive cover cropping to increase soil health and soil organic matter content | $48,381 |
| 16 | Reduced tillage to reduce soil erosion | $43,702 |
| 17 | Brush Management | $42,023 |
| 18 | Residue and Tillage Management- Reduced Till | $41,093 |
| 19 | Use of multi-species cover crops to improve soil health and increase soil organic matter | $37,962 |
| 20 | Herbaceous Weed Treatment | $36,628 |
| 21 | Forest Stand Improvement | $35,623 |
| 22 | Conservation Crop Rotation | $34,764 |
| 23 | Conservation cover for pollinators and beneficial insects | $27,139 |
| 24 | Cover crop to reduce water quality degradation by utilizing excess soil nutrients | $26,872 |
| 25 | No till to reduce soil erosion | $25,822 |
| 26 | Extend existing filter strip to reduce water quality impacts | $18,114 |
| 27 | Resource conserving crop rotation | $18,018 |
| 28 | Brush management to improve wildlife habitat | $16,008 |
| 29 | Cover crop to minimize soil compaction | $8,861 |
| 30 | Herbaceous weed treatment to create plant communities consistent with the ecological site | $4,451 |
| 31 | Field Border | $3,909 |
| 32 | Tree/Shrub Establishment | $3,404 |
| 33 | Stockpiling cool season forage to improve structure and composition or plant productivity and health | $2,940 |
| 34 | Forage and biomass planting to reduce soil erosion or increase organic matter to build soil health | $2,335 |
| 35 | Prescribed Grazing | $1,432 |
| 36 | Prescribed Burning | $1,286 |
| 37 | Critical Area Planting | $1,150 |
| 38 | Filter Strip | $1,028 |
| 39 | Forage plantings that help increase organic matter in depleted soils | $879 |
| Show All | ||
| Show Less | ||
| Total Climate Smart CSP payments, 2017-2022 | $4,547,317 | |
| Climate Smart CSP payments, 2017-2022 | $4,358,302 | |
| Provisional Climate Smart CSP payments, 2017-2022 | $189,015 | |
NRCS 2024 climate smart practice.
NRCS 2024 provisional climate smart practice.
CSP payments by county, 2017-2022
| Rank | State | CSP Payments, 2017-2022 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iroquois County, Illinois | $29,863,334 |
| 2 | Mason County, Illinois | $27,149,356 |
| 3 | Pike County, Illinois | $23,521,555 |
| 4 | Whiteside County, Illinois | $22,811,308 |
| 5 | Montgomery County, Illinois | $22,668,799 |
| 6 | Wayne County, Illinois | $19,950,004 |
| 7 | Vermilion County, Illinois | $19,794,940 |
| 8 | Livingston County, Illinois | $19,681,310 |
| 9 | Henry County, Illinois | $19,444,071 |
| 10 | McLean County, Illinois | $18,798,872 |
| 11 | Mercer County, Illinois | $18,149,226 |
| 12 | Cumberland County, Illinois | $17,879,261 |
| 13 | Bureau County, Illinois | $17,815,767 |
| 14 | Greene County, Illinois | $17,482,611 |
| 15 | Hancock County, Illinois | $17,220,034 |
| 16 | Cass County, Illinois | $16,723,868 |
| 17 | Logan County, Illinois | $16,286,257 |
| 18 | Brown County, Illinois | $15,587,478 |
| 19 | La Salle County, Illinois | $15,563,438 |
| 20 | Macoupin County, Illinois | $15,443,179 |
| 21 | Stephenson County, Illinois | $15,400,148 |
| 22 | Jo Daviess County, Illinois | $15,352,735 |
| 23 | Clay County, Illinois | $15,261,925 |
| 24 | Marion County, Illinois | $14,712,213 |
| 25 | Champaign County, Illinois | $14,530,282 |
| 26 | Adams County, Illinois | $14,450,077 |
| 27 | Effingham County, Illinois | $14,415,175 |
| 28 | Shelby County, Illinois | $14,203,578 |
| 29 | Tazewell County, Illinois | $13,931,277 |
| 30 | Christian County, Illinois | $13,790,735 |
| 31 | Carroll County, Illinois | $13,619,676 |
| 32 | Fulton County, Illinois | $13,535,015 |
| 33 | Knox County, Illinois | $12,792,494 |
| 34 | Jasper County, Illinois | $12,771,614 |
| 35 | Crawford County, Illinois | $12,705,973 |
| 36 | Hamilton County, Illinois | $12,359,649 |
| 37 | Ford County, Illinois | $11,977,377 |
| 38 | Sangamon County, Illinois | $11,874,335 |
| 39 | Fayette County, Illinois | $11,756,058 |
| 40 | Union County, Illinois | $11,609,536 |
| 41 | Henderson County, Illinois | $11,367,159 |
| 42 | Morgan County, Illinois | $10,978,586 |
| 43 | Coles County, Illinois | $9,718,392 |
| 44 | Rock Island County, Illinois | $9,670,959 |
| 45 | Calhoun County, Illinois | $9,655,476 |
| 46 | Clark County, Illinois | $9,556,022 |
| 47 | Woodford County, Illinois | $9,419,753 |
| 48 | Winnebago County, Illinois | $9,082,441 |
| 49 | Jefferson County, Illinois | $9,022,636 |
| 50 | Menard County, Illinois | $8,617,067 |
| 51 | DeKalb County, Illinois | $8,603,619 |
| 52 | Bond County, Illinois | $8,390,644 |
| 53 | Ogle County, Illinois | $8,348,033 |
| 54 | Scott County, Illinois | $7,755,519 |
| 55 | White County, Illinois | $7,643,166 |
| 56 | Lee County, Illinois | $7,585,756 |
| 57 | Jersey County, Illinois | $7,423,315 |
| 58 | Schuyler County, Illinois | $7,394,103 |
| 59 | Edgar County, Illinois | $7,311,548 |
| 60 | De Witt County, Illinois | $7,041,620 |
| 61 | Johnson County, Illinois | $6,974,513 |
| 62 | Peoria County, Illinois | $6,704,813 |
| 63 | Richland County, Illinois | $6,491,944 |
| 64 | Stark County, Illinois | $5,926,399 |
| 65 | Macon County, Illinois | $5,753,247 |
| 66 | Douglas County, Illinois | $5,722,471 |
| 67 | McDonough County, Illinois | $5,483,328 |
| 68 | Pope County, Illinois | $5,415,391 |
| 69 | Piatt County, Illinois | $5,205,999 |
| 70 | Jackson County, Illinois | $5,171,668 |
| 71 | Warren County, Illinois | $4,978,121 |
| 72 | Massac County, Illinois | $4,874,366 |
| 73 | Franklin County, Illinois | $4,863,074 |
| 74 | Marshall County, Illinois | $4,798,408 |
| 75 | Randolph County, Illinois | $4,684,150 |
| 76 | Grundy County, Illinois | $4,629,231 |
| 77 | Kankakee County, Illinois | $4,609,802 |
| 78 | Clinton County, Illinois | $4,331,049 |
| 79 | Lawrence County, Illinois | $4,157,916 |
| 80 | Pulaski County, Illinois | $3,947,095 |
| 81 | Moultrie County, Illinois | $3,862,799 |
| 82 | Saline County, Illinois | $3,730,629 |
| 83 | Edwards County, Illinois | $3,495,183 |
| 84 | Putnam County, Illinois | $2,864,669 |
| 85 | Williamson County, Illinois | $2,759,320 |
| 86 | Perry County, Illinois | $2,718,594 |
| 87 | Monroe County, Illinois | $2,677,694 |
| 88 | Madison County, Illinois | $2,556,085 |
| 89 | Washington County, Illinois | $2,277,791 |
| 90 | Wabash County, Illinois | $2,218,432 |
| 91 | Hardin County, Illinois | $2,099,497 |
| 92 | Gallatin County, Illinois | $1,788,232 |
| 93 | Alexander County, Illinois | $1,693,298 |
| 94 | Saint Clair County, Illinois | $1,369,702 |
| 95 | McHenry County, Illinois | $1,128,704 |
| 96 | Boone County, Illinois | $1,069,678 |
| 97 | Will County, Illinois | $591,344 |
| 98 | Kendall County, Illinois | $523,433 |
| 99 | Kane County, Illinois | $320,467 |
| 100 | Lake County, Illinois | $23,533 |
| 101 | Cook County, Illinois | $0 |
| Show All | ||
| Show Less | ||
The state-level CSP data only includes practices that had more than four contracts in a state for a particular year. Because of this, the data contained within the state pages will not sum up to the total payments by practice on the national page.
USDA Census of Agriculture Data for Illinois, 2022
Land in Illinois, 2022
| Land type | Acres |
|---|---|
| Number of Farms: | 71,123 |
| Total Acres in Farms: | 26,292,041 |
| Cropland Acres: | 22,913,841 |
| Permanent pasture and rangeland: | 742,228 |
| Woodland Acres: | 1,758,270 |
Livestock in Illinois, 2022
| Livestock | Number of Animals |
|---|---|
| Layers inventory | 7,278,610 |
| Hogs and pigs inventory | 5,204,135 |
| Broilers and other meat-type chickens sold | 1,121,454 |
| Cattle and calves inventory | 962,040 |
| Sheep and lambs inventory | 50,943 |
USDA’s Conservation Reserve Program needs reform to improve climate benefits
Despite new climate-smart funds, agricultural conservation programs remain oversubscribed
Environmentally sensitive Mississippi River region croplands should be targeted for conservation
Major USDA conservation program must change to prioritize climate stewardship
$7.4B spent on two of USDA’s biggest conservation programs, very little went to ‘climate-smart’ agriculture
Climate change isn’t high priority for $1.2 billion USDA farm stewardship program
