Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)

Purpose:

The CRP is a voluntary program that offers annual rental payments, incentive payments, and annual maintenance payments for certain activities, and cost-share assistance to establish approved cover on eligible cropland.

The program encourages farmers to plant long-term resource-conserving covers to improve soil, water, and wildlife resources. Contract duration is between 10 and 15 years

Administering Agency:

CRP is administered by FSA. The Natural Resources Conservation Service, Cooperative State Research and Education Extension Service, state forestry agencies, and local soil and water conservation districts provide technical support. Private sector technical assistance vendors may also be available.

Eligibility:

Land Requirements

To be eligible for placement in the CRP land must be:

Cropland that is planted or considered planted to an agricultural commodity 2 of the 5 most recent crop years (including field margins) and which is physically and legally capable of being planted in a normal manner to an agricultural commodity;

or

Marginal pastureland that is either:

Certain acreage enrolled in the Water Bank Program; or
Suitable for use as a riparian buffer to be planted to trees

Additional Requirements for Cropland

In addition to the eligible land requirements, cropland must meet one of the following:

Have a weighted average Erosion Index (EI) of 8 or higher or be considered highly erodible land according to the conservation compliance provisions;

  1. Be considered a cropped wetland;
  2. Be devoted to any of a number of highly beneficial environmental practices, such as filter strips, riparian buffers, grass waterways, shelterbelts, wellhead protection areas, and other similar practices;
  3. Be subject to scour erosion;
  4. Be located in a national or state CRP conservation priority area;
  5. Be cropland associated with or surrounding noncropped wetlands.

Producer Requirements

A producer must have owned or operated the land for at least 12 months prior to close of the signup period, unless:

  • The new owner acquired the land as a result of death of the previous owner;
  • The only ownership change occurred due to foreclosure where the owner exercised a timely right or redemption in accordance with state law; or
  • The circumstances of the acquisition present adequate assurance to CCC that the new owner did not acquire the land for the purpose of placing it in CRP.

Assistance Offered:

The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) bases rental rates on the relative productivity of soils within each county and the average dryland cash rent or the cash-rent equivalent.

The maximum CRP rental rate for each offer is calculated in advance of enrollment. Producers may offer land at that rate or may offer a lower rental rate to increase the likelihood that their offer will be accepted.

In addition, CCC offers additional financial incentives of up to 20 percent of the annual payment for certain continuous signup practices.

Additional Information: