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THE LAND — MAY 28/JUNE 4, 2021
Expanding CRP acres for carbon sequestration “Carbon sequestration” is a common fairly steady ranging from just under topic these days in the halls of Congress, $1.8 billion in 2002 to a high of just over at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in $1.9 billion in 2018. The total cost of the farm organizations, and among farmers CRP program for the current fiscal year and ranchers. One federal conservation is estimated at about $1.8 billion, which program which has been around for over is a small percentage of total federal 35 years and has assisted with carbon spending authorized by the 2018 Farm sequestration is the Conservation Bill. Reserve Program. CRP was established in Current CRP enrollment FARM PROGRAMS December of 1985 as part of the 1985 As of March 31, 2021, there were a Farm Bill. total of 564,021 CRP contracts in place, By Kent Thiesse The initial goal of CRP was to with just under 20.8 million acres reduce soil erosion on highly erodenrolled in the CRP program. This is ible cropland and to help curb the over 4 million acres below the maxiover-production of farm commodities. mum of 25 million acres for 2021 Secondary objectives of CRP included improving that was allowed as part of the last Farm Bill. Of water quality, fostering wildlife habitat, and provid- the total CRP acres, approximately 11.3 million ing income support to farmers, and as time passed acres are enrolled under a general CRP contract, enhancing carbon sequestration. just over 6.3 million acres enrolled in continuous CRP, just under 1.9 million acres are enrolled in the The history of CRP grassland program, and the balance of the CRP USDA began enrolling crop acres into the CRP acres in the CREP program, wetlands programs and program in 1986. CRP has been the largest and most important conservation program in the United other special CRP initiatives. Forty-six percent of the continuous CRP and CREP acres are enrolled in States since that time, making major contributions to national efforts to improve water and air quality, the Clean Lakes, Estuaries and Rivers (CLEAR) prevent soil erosion, protect environmentally sensi- program. tive land, and enhance wildlife populations. The There are eight states which have over 1 million CRP program offers landowners 10 or 15-year conacres currently enrolled in CRP as of March, 2021 tracts to take farm land out of production. Following — mainly in the Upper Midwest and Plains regions. initiation of the program, CRP acreage quickly rose CRP acres enrolled in these states include: Texas to over 30 million acres by 1990; then increased (2.4 million), Kansas (1.8 million), Iowa (1.7 mileven more, to around 35 million acres by 1993-1995; lion), Colorado (1.6 million), South Dakota (1.4 milbefore dropping off slightly following the 1996 lion), Nebraska (1.3 million), North Dakota (1.2 mil“Freedom-to-Farm” Farm Bill. CRP acres then lion), and Minnesota (just over 1 million acres). CRP began to increase again in the late 1990’s, reaching acreage in most of these states has declined consida peak of 36.8 million acres in 2007. erably in recent years. During a 15-year period from 2007 to 2021, CRP The U.S. average CRP rental rate is $83 per acre, acreage has declined by nearly 16 million acres or including an average of $54 per acre for land 43 percent. There is approximately 20.8 million enrolled under general CRP contracts, $137 per acres currently enrolled in CRP, which is at the low- acres for continuous CRP land, and $180 per acre est level since 1988. The reduction in CRP acres has for land enrolled in CREP. In Minnesota, the averbeen due to high crop prices, strong farm income age CRP rental rate is $140 per acre, which includes levels, and mandated reductions in maximum CRP $88 per acre for general CRP contracts and $163 acreage by federal legislation. per acre for continuous CRP acres. Iowa has an overall CRP rental average of $229 per acre, with The 2007 Farm Bill reduced the maximum CRP $166 per acre for general CRP and $254 per acre for acreage from 37 million acres down to 32 million continuous CRP. Average CRP rental rates in other acres, which was followed by the 2014 Farm Bill which reduced the maximum CRP acreage even fur- states include Illinois at $202 per acre, Indiana at $192 per acre, Wisconsin at $159 per acre, South ther, down to a maximum level of 24 million acres. Dakota at $75 per acre, Nebraska at $58 per acre, The 2018 Farm Bill established a gradual increase North Dakota at $52 per acre, and Montana at $29 in maximum CRP acres up to 25 million acres in per acre. 2021, 25.5 million acres in 2022 and 27 million acres in 2023. Given the current challenge to get more acres enrolled into the CRP program, one concern is the Approximately 70 percent of the CRP acres are currently seeded to native grasses, 11 percent of the rather large number of CRP contract acres that will be expiring in the next few years. CRP contracts acres are in wetland restoration, 7 percent are will expire on about 3 million acres in the United planted to trees, 7 percent are in riparian buffers, States on Sept. 30, along with approximately 4 miland 5 percent of the acres have other conservation practices installed. Since 2002, the total annual fed- lion acres on Sept. 30, 2022 and 2 million acres on Sept. 30, 2023. A total of 9 million acres, or 43 pereral outlay to fund the CRP program has stayed cent of the current total CRP acres, will have con-
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tracts expiring in the next three years. Keeping those acres in CRP could be a challenge if farm profitability stays strong and traditional land rental rates increase. USDA announces new CRP initiatives In mid-April, in order to address the declining CRP enrollment rate in recent years and to more fully utilize CRP as a tool to enhance carbon sequestration, USDA announced new CRP initiatives, with higher payment rates, new incentives, and a more targeted focus. The 2018 Farm Bill which was passed by Congress limited maximum CRP annual rental rates to 85 percent of established county average rental rates for a given county for land signed up under a general CRP contract and to 90 percent of the average rate for land signed up under a continuous CRP contract. One way that USDA can circumvent the reduced CRP rental rates is to offer sign-up incentives to implement certain practices and to cover CRP establishment expenses. Following are some of the new CRP initiatives announced by the USDA: Overall CRP initiatives — Increase technical assistance capacity through the Natural Resource Conservation Service; and increase collaboration with other USDA agencies and external partners to monitor and measure the environmental performance and climate benefits of CRP. General CRP initiatives — New “climate-smart” incentives to encourage practices to sequester carbon and reduce emissions; additional one-time 10 percent inflationary adjustment for the life of the CRP contract to encourage greater CRP enrollment; and further upward or downward adjustments of county CRP rental rates, up to 50 to 150 percent of county average CRP rental rates, based on the soil productivity index. Continuous CRP initiatives — Increase the incentive from 10 percent to 20 percent for adding water quality enhancement practices; move State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) from general CRP to continuous CRP sign-up; make the Highly Erodible Land Initiative (HELI) available in both continuous and general CRP. (Also implement the same three initiatives as for general CRP.) Grassland CRP initiatives — Establish a minimum CRP Grassland rental rate of $15 per acre (1,347 counties are currently lower); and establish National Grassland Priority Zones to increase CRP enrollment in sensitive areas. “Pilot” CRP initiatives — Hold a second sign-up of the Soil Health and Income Protection Program (SHIPP) (see below); and expand the Clean Lakes, Estuaries, and Rivers 30-year contract (CLEAR30) to be nationwide. In mid-May, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced agriculture producers in the “Prairie See THIESSE, pg. 15
