Conservation Reserve Program Signup

USDA Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the USDA is opening a signup period for the Conservation Reserve program (CRP) beginning Monday December 9, 2019. The deadline for signing up for the general CRP is February 28, 2020. Continuous CRP of course is ongoing. "The program marks its 35 year anniversary in 2020 and we are hoping to see one of our largest signups in many years" said Secretary Perdue.

A general CRP signup will be held annually and will be on a competitive bid process. It will now include increased opportunities for enrollment of wildlife habitat through the State Acres For Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) initiative. Land that was enrolled in the CRP under a 15 year contract that expired in 2017, 2018, or 2019 may be eligible to be re-enrolled if the practice under the expired contract had been maintained.

With the low commodity prices I suspect there will be a lot of interest in signing up some less productive land in the CRP. If you are interested contact your local County Farm Service Agency or NRCS office at the USDA Service Center.