Annual CRP Payments From USDA “In The Mail”

WASHINGTON, DC – USDA is issuing $1.68 billion in payments to producers and landowners for the 21.9 million acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which provides annual rental payment for land devoted to conservation purposes. Through CRP, farmers and ranchers establish long-term, resource-conserving plant species, such as approved grasses or trees, to control soil erosion, improve water quality, and enhance wildlife habitat on cropland. Signed into law in 1985, CRP is one of the largest private-lands conservation programs in the U.S. and it was originally intended to primarily control soil erosion and potentially stabilize commodity prices by taking marginal lands out of production. The program has evolved over the years, providing many conservation and economic benefits. The program marks its 35-year anniversary this December. Since its inception, CRP has prevented more than 9 billion tons of soil from eroding; reduced nitrogen by 95 percent and phosphorous runoff by 85 percent; sequestered an annual average of 49 million tons of greenhouse gases (equal to removing 9 million cars from the nations highways); creating more than 3 million acres of restored wetlands while protecting more than 175,000 stream miles; and provided benefits to bees and other pollinators while also increasing populations of ducks, pheasants, turkey, bobwhite quail, prairie chickens, grasshopper sparrows, and many other birds.
(SOURCE: All Ag News)