USDA's conservation reserve program pays farmers $1.77 billion

By Andi Anderson

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued more than $1.77 billion this year to agricultural producers and landowners through its Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). CRP is a critical piece of the Department's efforts to support climate-smart agriculture and forestry on working lands.

Top five states for CRP participant payments:

1. Iowa
2. Illinois
3. Minnesota
4. South Dakota
5. Missouri

Improvements to CRP:

• Introducing a new climate-smart practice incentive for CRP general and continuous signups designed to reward participants who implement conservation practices that increase carbon sequestration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Enabling additional soil rental rate adjustments or rate flexibilities, including a possible increase in rates where appropriate.
• Increasing payments for practice incentives from 20 percent to 50 percent.
• Increasing payments for water quality practices rates from 10 percent to 20 percent for certain water quality benefiting practices available through the CRP continuous signup, such as grassed waterways, riparian buffers and filter strips.
• Establishing a Grassland CRP minimum rental rate benefiting more than 1,000 counties with rates currently below the $13 minimum.

FSA's conservation programs had a strong showing in 2023, with 3.9 million acres enrolled in CRP. These results underscore the continued importance of CRP as a tool to help producers invest in the long-term health, sustainability, and profitability of their land and natural resources.

Photo Credit: istock-dorin-s