The popular Conservation Reserve Program has its general sign-ups open from now until February 12th. This program is administered by the USDA’s Farm Service Agency and provides annual rental payments for land devoted to conservation purposes.

Through the CRP, farmers and ranchers can establish long-term, resource-conserving plant species including grass and trees to control soil erosion, improve the quality of water, and enhance wildlife habitat on cropland. According to the USDA, Farmers and ranchers who participate in CRP help provide benefits to their local region and the nation’s environment and economy. 

CRP Signup is held annually and can be very competitive. New cropland offered in the program must have been planted for four out of six crop years from 2012-2017. Producers with land already enrolled but expiring on September 30th, 2021 can re-enroll this year. Accepted offers will begin on October 1st. 

The USDA says that some of the successes of this 35-year program include preventing more than 9 billion tons of soil from eroding, reducing nitrogen and phosphorous runoff relative to annually tilled cropland by 95% and 85%, and sequestering an annual average of 49 million tons of greenhouse gases equal to taking 9 million cars off the road. The program has also created more than 3 million acres of restored wetlands while protecting more than 175,000 stream miles with forest and buffers. 

For more information visit farmers.gov/coronavirus.