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Conservation Reserve Program Sign-Up Benefits Producers, Protects Sensitive Habitat

USDA Forest Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2010 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA will accept 4.3 million acres offered by landowners under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general sign-up.

The selections preserve and enhance environmentally sensitive lands, including wetlands, while providing payments to property owners.

“Interest in this open enrollment period was high, and I’m pleased that producers and landowners across the nation continue to realize the environmental benefits of enrolling land in the CRP,” said Secretary Vilsack.

For this 39th general sign-up more than 50,000 offers were received on more than 4.8 million acres, nationwide. Enrollment of the 4.3 million acres will keep the program enrollment close to the 32 million acre statutory cap, which will maintain and enhance the significant environmental benefits the program has already achieved. CRP’s 39th signup will bring the total enrollment in the program to 31.2 million acres, leaving sufficient room under the 32 million acre cap to continue enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, continuous signup and other CRP initiatives through FY 2011.

Under CRP, farmers and ranchers plant grasses and trees in crop fields and along streams or rivers. The plantings reduce soil and nutrients from washing into waterways, reduce soil erosion that may otherwise contribute to poor air and water quality, and provide valuable habitat for wildlife. Plant cover established on the acreage accepted into the CRP will reduce nutrient and sediment runoff in our nation’s rivers and streams. The CRP has restored more than two million acres of wetlands and associated buffers and reduced soil erosion by more than 400 million tons per year.

USDA selected offers for enrollment based on an Environmental Benefits Index (EBI) comprised of five environmental factors plus cost. The five environmental factors are: (1) wildlife enhancement, (2) water quality, (3) soil erosion, (4) enduring benefits, and (5) air quality. The minimal acceptable EBI level for this signup is 200.

The average rental rate per acre for this signup is about $46. USDA implemented a number of measures including using additional EBI point incentives for producers to submit cost-effective offers, and producer outreach activities to encourage competitive offers on the most environmentally sensitive lands. These measures will maintain the high environmental benefits while decreasing the historic cost of the program.

Under CRP, there are more than 31.3 million acres enrolled on more than 473,000 contracts. These 10 to 15 year contracts provide long term enduring conservation benefits in return for an annual rental payment.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).

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Good For Landowners, Good For Ducks
DU Conservation Biologist helps with WRP demand.

Ducks Unlimited

BROOKINGS, S.D. --(Ammoland.com)- Landowners can benefit their operations, improve water quality and control flooding all while conserving wetlands for waterfowl and other wildlife through the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP).

Ducks Unlimited (DU) Conservation Biologist, Dan Limmer is working in partnership with the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (SDGFP) to find these win-win opportunities and address the tremendous demand for WRP in eastern South Dakota.

Limmer’s position was created through a partnership with SDGFP, NRCS and DU. Through the NRCS’s Red River Basin Initiative, Limmer is working in NRCS field offices helping interested landowners address flood control and water quality issues. On board since April, Limmer has already helped secure 54 WRP contracts conserving just under 5,000 acres.

Duck Fever: Catch it Today!

“My position was created because there is tremendous interest in WRP from landowners in eastern South Dakota,” Limmer said. “The NRCS needed help with the significant workload that goes along with administering this program, and the workload keeps growing.”

Currently in South Dakota there are over 1,000 WRP easements in place conserving nearly 80,000 acres. With Limmer’s help, DU, SDGFP and NRCS hope to expand that number and work with the landowners who have been waiting for WRP contracts.

“This partnership has worked out exceptionally well,” said Curtis Elke, assistant state conservationist with the NRCS. “The demand for WRP has grown exponentially in the last few years, and we are hoping to add another person like Dan to help us serve our customers’ requests.”

WRP is a voluntary program that helps landowners protect, restore and enhance wetlands on their property.

The NRCS administers the program and provides incentives and technical assistance for landowners with the goal of restoring wetland functions to the landscape and providing quality wildlife habitat.

In the end, landowners benefit by being compensated for retiring marginal land from agriculture and the landscape benefits by the conservation of soil, water and wetland resources.

“WRP is an exceptional program for many, and with the amount of rainfall we have received in recent years, it is helping landowners continue to receive income from land that has less production value,” Elke said.

“I am a producer and I grew up on a farm so I bring that perspective to this job, I know the problems landowners face with management and conservation and have a good idea what they are looking for in a conservation program,” Limmer said.

Limmer has a strong background in natural resources. He has worked for South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks as a habitat biologist and watershed project coordinator as well a conservation officer.

Limmer also has experience in natural resources policy, working for several non-government conservation organizations as a private consultant.

If you are interested in sighing up for WRP you can contact Dan Limmer through the NRCS Brookings Field Support Office, 523rd Ave., Brookings, S.D., 605-692-2344.

Ducks Unlimited is the world’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving North America’s continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 12 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever.

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