IARN — The USDA’s Conservation Reserve Program continues to get bigger.
USDA’s goal is to enroll up to 4 million new acres in CRP by raising rental payment rates and expanding the number of incentivized environmental practices allowed under the program.
Farm Service Agency Administrator Zach Ducheneaux says CRP is one of the world’s largest voluntary conservation programs with a long track record of preserving topsoil, sequestering carbon, and reducing nitrogen runoff, as well providing healthy habitat for wildlife.
“We’re currently at 20.8 million acres enrolled,” said Ducheneaux. “The cap is 25 million acres right now. To increase enrollment, we’re adjusting soil rental rates to enable additional flexibility for rate adjustments, including an increase in rates. And we’re also increasing payments for practice incentives for continuous CRP from 20-to-50 percent.”
Ducheneaux adds the program is currently 4 million acres below the goal for 2021.
“In addition, there is another 3 million acres that are going to be exiting CRP in the next two years, so we have a lot of room to grow the program, but a considerable amount of work to do just to maintain the enrollment.”
CRP is a powerful tool when it comes to climate mitigation, and acres currently enrolled in the program mitigate more than 12 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
If USDA reaches its goal of enrolling an additional 4 million acres into the program, it will mitigate an additional 3 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent and prevent 90 million pounds of nitrogen and 33 million tons of sediment from running into U.S. waterways each year.
Story courtesy of the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network
