CRP general enrollment open until March 11

General enrollment for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) which opened Jan. 1 will close March 11. 

Other CRP programs including the Continuous CRP enrollment has constant open applications and Grassland CRP opens April 4 and closes May 13. 

The FSA pays a yearly payment to agricultural producers and landowners  to take land out of agricultural production. Contracts run 10-15 years in length . 

In 2021 there were 5.3 million acres in CRP land with 1.9 million in General CRP, 2.6 in Grassland and 902,000 acres in Continuous.

The USDA’s Farm Service Agency CRP program was started by Ronald Regan in 1985 and is based on fighting environmental issues.

According to USDA, CRP improves water quality, soil erosion reduction and habitat for endangered species. 

To sign up for CRP producers can contact their local FSA office.

More information about the CRP program is available on the USDA FSA website at https://www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/conservation-programs/conservation-reserve-program/.