USDA Issues Conservation Reserve Program Rental Payments to Help Safeguard Soil and Water on 417,000 Farms

I thought you might be interested to see these statements of support on USDA's Conservation Reserve Program, which announced today payments to help safeguard soil and water on 417,000 farms. See today's press release from USDA's Farm Service Agency at the end of this alert.

Thank you.

David Nomsen, Vice President of Governmental Affairs for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever

"CRP delivers habitat to wildlife. Examples range from doubling and tripling local pheasant populations to adding two million ducks annually to fall migrations and preventing species from being listed as threatened and endangered. America needs a strong CRP, along with an entire suite of other voluntary incentive-based conservation programs, as the starting point to sustain continued agricultural production."

John Salazar, Colorado Agriculture Commissioner

"The Conservation Reserve Program has a significant environmental impact, not only across the country, but in Colorado as well. This program encourages sound conservation practices that will have lasting benefits for generations to come.  Agricultural producers have long held the responsibility of protecting our natural resources and the CRP is a vital resource in that effort."

Bill Northey, Iowa Agriculture Secretary

"The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a very important USDA program helping farmers better care for their land and protect water quality. Iowa landowners continue to add acres in the continuous enrollment CRP, which is especially valuable in targeting benefits to the most sensitive acres. Over 50,000 Iowa farms have at least some of their acres enrolled in CRP, with payments to Iowa landowners exceeding $200 million."

Release No. PENDING                   

Contact:

Isabel Benemelis (202) 720-7809

USDA Issues Conservation Reserve Program Rental Payments to Help Safeguard Soil and Water on 417,000 Farms

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2011–The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will distribute Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) rental payments to participants across the country. USDA's Farm Service Agency administers CRP, while technical support functions are provided by public and private sector partners. CRP is a voluntary program that helps agricultural producers safeguard environmentally sensitive land and provide millions of acres of habitat for game and non-game wildlife species. Participants enroll in CRP contracts for 10 to 15 years. Currently, total CRP enrollment stands at 29.9 million acres.

"CRP protects millions of acres of American topsoil from erosion and is designed to safeguard the America's natural resources," said FSA Administrator Bruce Nelson. "By reducing water runoff and sedimentation, CRP protects groundwater and helps improve the condition of lakes, rivers, ponds, and streams. Acreage enrolled in the CRP is planted to resource-conserving vegetative covers, making the program a major contributor to increased wildlife populations in many parts of the country."

The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) makes annual rental payments based on the agriculture rental value of the land, and it provides cost-share assistance for up to 50 percent of the participant's costs in establishing approved conservation practices.

USDA also issues non-rental CRP payments throughout the year. These payments include a 50 percent expense reimbursement for establishing and managing cover as well as incentive payments for enrolling eligible high priority conservation practices.

Beginning today, producers holding 752,000 contracts on 417,000 farms will receive an average CRP rental payment of $55.06 per acre. Producers will earn an average payment of $4,115 per farm enrolled in the program. Included in the totals are 414,000 contracts (5.1 million acres) for continuous CRP enrollments and 338,000 contracts (24.8 million acres) enrolled under general CRP. In all, the payments total approximately $1.7 billion.

A table, located below and at fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/apportstate091311.pdf, lists acreage enrollments by state, number of contracts, number of farms, acres enrolled as of the end of the 2011 fiscal year and CRP projected rental payments for fiscal year 2012.

CRP ENROLLMENT AS OF SEPTEMBER 2011

AND OCTOBER 2011 RENTAL PAYMENTS

1/ Data from States with fewer than 4 contracts not reported.

For more information on CRP, producers should contact their local FSA office or visit FSA's website at www.fsa.usda.gov.