USDA announces CRP general sign-up in March

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will conduct a four-week Conservation Reserve Program general signup, beginning March 12 and ending April 6.

CRP has a 25-year legacy of successfully protecting the nation’s natural resources through voluntary participation, while providing significant economic and environmental benefits to rural communities across the United States.

CRP is a voluntary program available to agricultural producers to help them use environmentally sensitive land for conservation benefits. In return, USDA provides participants with rental payments and cost-share assistance. Contract duration is between 10 and 15 years.

Currently, about 30 million acres are enrolled in CRP; and contracts on an estimated 6.5 million acres will expire Sept. 30, 2012.

Offers for CRP contracts are ranked according to the Environmental Benefits Index. FSA uses the following EBI factors to assess the environmental benefits for the land offered:

• Wildlife habitat benefits resulting from covers on contract acreage
• Water quality benefits from reduced erosion, runoff and leaching
• On-farm benefits from reduced erosion
• Benefits that will likely endure beyond the contract period
• Air quality benefits from reduced wind erosio
• Cost.

CRP continues to make major contributions to national efforts to improve water and air quality, prevent soil erosion by protecting the most sensitive areas including those prone to flash flooding and runoff. At the same time, CRP has helped increase populations of pheasants, quail, ducks, and other rare species, like the sage grouse, the lesser prairie chicken, and others.