Conservation Reserve Program

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a voluntary program for agricultural landowners, that encourages farmers to plant long-term resource-conserving vegetative ground cover to improve soil and water, and create more suitable habitat for fish and wildlife . Ground cover options include grasses, legumes, shrubs, and tree plantings. The program is authorized by the federal Food Security Act of 1985, as amended, and is implemented through the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). It aims to promote good land stewardship and improve rural aesthetics.

The CRP offers annual rental payments, incentive payments, and cost-share assistance to establish approved cover on eligible cropland. The CCC provides assistance of as much as 50% of the landowner's cost in establishing an approved conservation program. Contracts remain in effect for between 10 and 15 years. Annual rental payments are based on the agriculture rental value of the land used in the program. The program provides needed income support for farmers, and helps to curb production of surplus commodities.

Eligibility for participation in CRP extends to individuals, partnerships, associations, Indian tribal ventures corporations, estates, trusts, other business enterprises or legal entities. States, political subdivisions of states, or agencies thereof owning or operating croplands, may also apply.

The CCC via the Farm Service Agency (FSA) manages the CRP. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Cooperative State Research and Education Extension Service provide support. State forestry agencies and local soil and water conservation districts also provide assistance.

To be eligible for the CRP, cropland should have been planted or considered planted to an agricultural commodity in two of the five most recent crop years. Eligibility encompasses highly erodible acreage, cropped wetlands , and land surrounding non-cropped wetlands. The cropland must be owned or operated for at least 12 months before the close of the sign-up period. Exceptions can be made for land that was acquired by will or succession ,orif the FSA determines that ownership was not acquired for the purpose of placing the land in the conservation reserve.

Initially, erosion reduction was the sole criterion for acceptance in the CRP, and in 1986–87, 22 million acres (8.9 million ha) were enrolled for this purpose. CRP proved to be effective. According NRCS statistics , average erosion on enrolled acres declined by about 90%. It was estimated that the program reduced overall erosion nationwide by more than 22% even though less than 10% of the nation's cropland was enrolled.

An Environmental Benefits Index (EBI) is used to prioritize applications for the CRP. EBI factors include: Wildlife habitat benefits, water quality benefits from reduced erosion, runoff , and leaching , and air quality benefits from reduced wind erosion. The NRCS collects data for each of the factors and, based on its analysis, applications are ranked. Selections are made from that ranking.

The CCC bases rental rates on the productivity of soils within a county, and the average rent for the past three years of local agricultural land. The maximum CRP rental rate for each applicant is calculated in advance of enrollment. Applicants may accept that rate, or may offer a lower rental rate to increase the likelihood that their project will be funded.

The CCC encourages restoration of wetlands by providing a 25% incentive payment of the costs involved to establish approved cover. This is in addition to the normal 50% cost share for non-wetlands. Eligible acreage devoted to special conservation practices, such as riparian buffers, filter strips, grassed waterways, shelter belts, living snow fences, contour grass strips, salt tolerant vegetation, and shallow water areas for wildlife, may be enrolled at any time and is not subject to competitive bidding.

When CRP contracts expire, participants must continue to follow approved conservation plans. They must comply with wetland, endangered species and other federal, state, and local environmental laws, and they must respect any continuing conservation easement on the property.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides information and technical assistance to CRP participants who wish to return CRP land to row-crop producing status as their contracts expire. This is to ensure that the land is developed in a sound, productive, and sustainable manner, preventing excessive erosion, protecting water quality, and employing other measures that enhance soil moisture-retaining ability.

In states such as North Dakota, the landscape has been changed dramatically since the introduction of the CRP. In the 1970s and early 1980s, fields with steep hills and areas of light soil were often cultivated from fencerowto-fencerow. The result often was severe erosion and permanent loss of soil fertility. In some areas, winters were dominated by "snirtstorms" when a combination of dirt and snow blew across the landscape depositing a dark coating on countryside downwind. In contrast, today's travelers find these landscapes covered with green vegetation in summer and white snow in winter.

The CRP has particularly benefited migratory birds in states such as North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. The perennial vegetation on marginal farmland has provided refuge for migrating birds, and added breeding habitat for others. North Dakota farmers have enrolled about 10% of the state's cropland in the CRP.

The fiscal year 2000 federal agricultural appropriations bill authorized a pilot project of harvesting of biomass from CRP land to be used for energy production. Six projects were authorized, no more than one of which could be in any state. Vegetation could not be harvested more often than once every two years, and no commercial use could be made of the harvested biomass other than energy production. Annual CRP rental payments are reduced by twenty five percent during the year the acreage is harvested. Land that is devoted to field windbreaks, waterways, shallow water ways for wildlife, contour grass strips, shelter belts, living snow fences, permanent vegetation to reduce salinity , salt tolerant vegetative cover, filter strips, riparian buffers, wetland restoration, and cross-wind trap strips is not eligible for this program. By 2002, contracts had been approved in Iowa, Illinois, Oklahoma, Minnesota, New York, and Pennsylvania.

In June of 2001, the USDA announced a six-state pilot program as part of the CRP to restore up to 500,000 acres (202,000 ha) of farmable wetlands and associated buffers. The Farmable Wetlands Pilot Program is intended to help producers improve the hydrology and vegetation of eligible land in Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Restoring wetlands in these states should reduce downstream flood damage, improve surface and groundwater quality, and recharge groundwater supplies. Essential habitat for migratory birds and many other wildlife species , including threatened and endangered species will be created and enhanced. Recreational activities such as hiking and bird watching will also be improved.

In 1985, the year in which CRP originated, spring surveys by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service estimated waterfowl breeding populations at 25.6 million ducks. A fall flight of 54.5 million was predicted. Several species of ducks including mallards, pintails, and blue-winged teal appeared to be fading away. Numbers were at or near their lowest ebb in 30 years. Between 1986 and 1990, farmers enrolled 8.2 million acres (3.3 million hectare) of cropland in CRP within an area known as the prairie pothole region. This large glaciated area of the north central United States and southern Canada is where up to 70% of North America's ducks are hatched. Through CRP, nearly 13,000 mi² (34,000 km²) was converted to superior nesting habitat through CRP.

In the early 1990s, increased precipitation filled the prairie potholes and many waterfowl ended their spring migration on CRP land, rather than continuing migration to their usual breeding grounds in Canada. Nesting densities increased many fold. Potholes surrounded by CRP grass provided more secure habitat for nests, and hatchlings were no longer easy targets for predators. Nesting success tripled, from 10 to 30%, and waterfowl mortality no longer exceeded annual additions. By 1995, ten years after the start of CRP, 36.9 million ducks were included in the annual spring survey numbers, a 40% increase in 10 years.

Waterfowl are not the only bird species to benefit from CRP. In one study, breeding birds were counted in about 400 fields in eastern Montana, North and South Dakota, and western Minnesota. These states have nearly 30% of all land included in the CRP. Fields were planted mostly to mixtures of native and introduced grasses and legumes. For most of the seventy-three different species counted, numbers were far higher in CRP fields than in cropland. Differences were greatest for several grassland species whose numbers had been markedly declining in recent surveys. Two species, lark buntings (Calamospiza melanocorys ) and grasshopper sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum ), were 10 and 16 times more common in CRP environment than in cropland. The investigators concluded that restoration of suitable habitat in the form of introduced grasses and legumes can have an enormous beneficial effect on populations of grassland birds.

When CRP was due to expire in 1995, restoration of prairie pothole breeding grounds was in jeopardy. United States farm policy was undergoing major change and it appeared that the CRP would not be continued. Ducks Unlimited and other wildlife organizations lobbied heavily, and funding of one billion dollars was included in the 1996 Farm Bill to continue the program for another seven years. Moreover, the guidelines for the continuing program were geared more directly to the preservation of wetlands and waterfowl conservation. The prairie pothole region was designated a national conservation priority area, and during the March 1997 sign-up more acres in the prairie pothole region were enrolled in CRP than were due to expire.

In its first 10 years, the CRP cost nearly $2 billion per year. Opponents have argued that this is too expensive, while proponents maintain that the costs are offset by its conservation and environmental benefits. Estimates of the annual value of benefits range from slightly less than $1 billion to more than $1.5 billion. Some analysts claim that the value of benefits approaches or exceeds costs in some sites.

The USDA announced that there would not be general CRP signup for Fiscal Year 2002 although producers could continue to enroll acreage eligible under continuous enrollment provisions. Later, they announced that CRP contracts expiring in 2002 could be extended for another year.

[Douglas C. Pratt Ph.D. ]

RESOURCES

PERIODICALS

2002 Ducks Unlimited, Inc. May 31, 2002 [June 2002]. <http://www.ducks.org/conservation/crp.asp>.

Conservation Reserve Program Biomass Pilot Projects. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency Online. Fact Sheet Electronic Edition. November 2000 [May 2002].

Kantrud, Harold A., Rolf R. Koford, Douglas H. Johnson, and Michael D. Schwartz." The Conservation Reserve Program—Good for Birds of Many Feathers." North Dakota Outdoors 56, no. 2: 14–17.

Johnson, D. H., and M. D. Schwartz. "The Conservation Reserve Program and Grassland birds." Conservation Biology 7: 934–937.

New Conservation Reserve Program The University of Georgia, Cooperative Extension Service Extension, Forest Resources Unit. FOR. 97-003. 1997 [May 2002].

USDA To Help Restore Wetlands Through Six-state Pilot Programs. Farm Service Agency Public Affairs Staff June 4, 2001 [June 2002].