Farmers, ranchers and forest landowners who signed Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) contracts in 2011 with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) have until Tuesday, March 31 to renew those expiring contracts, reports Morning Ag Clips.

“These farmers, ranchers and forest landowners have the option to renew their existing contracts non-competitively if they are willing to adopt additional conservation activities aimed at helping them achieve higher levels of conservation on their operations,” said Jason Weller, chief of NRCS.

About 9,300 contracts covering more than 12.2 million acres are nearing the end of their five-year term and can be renewed for an additional five years.

To renew the expiring CSP contracts, landowners should submit an application to their local NRCS office before the deadline.