F5
FARM & RANCH
THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH
NOVEMBER 2020
Signup for CRP will open in early 2021 Telegraph staff reports LINCOLN — Sign up pe- riods for Conservation Reserve Program and CRP miles with riparian forest and grass buffers, which is enough to go around the world seven times. » Benefiting bees and
tended to primarily control soil erosion and potentially stabilize commodity prices by taking marginal lands out of production. The program has evolved over the years, pro- viding many conservation and economic benefits. The programmarks its 35-year anniversary this December. Program successes include: » Preventing more than 9 billion tons of soil from erod- ing, which is enough soil to fill 600 million dump trucks. » Reducing nitrogen and phosphorous runoff relative to annually tilled cropland by 95% and 85%, respective- ly. » Sequestering an annual average of 49 million tons of greenhouse gases, equal to taking 9 million cars off the road. » Creating more than 3 million acres of restored wetlands while protecting more than 175,000 stream
Johner, Nebraska Farm Service Agency state execu- tive director. “As one of our nation’s largest conservation endeavors, CRP has proven to protect our nation’s valu- able resources. Next year’s signup gives our farmers and ranchers an opportunity to enroll in CRP for the first time or continue their par- ticipation for another term.” Enrollment options » CRP general signup: Through CRP, farmers and ranchers establish long-term, resource-conserving plant species, such as approved grasses or trees, to control soil erosion, improve water quality and enhance wildlife habitat on cropland. Farmers and ranchers who participate in CRP help provide numer- ous benefits to the nation’s environment and economy. CRP general signup is held
annually. The competitive general signup includes in- creased opportunities for enrollment of wildlife habitat through the State Acres For Wildlife Enhancement ini- tiative. » Grasslands sign- up: CRP Grasslands helps landowners and operators protect grassland, including rangeland, and pasture- land and certain other lands while maintaining the areas as grazing lands. Protecting grasslands contributes pos- itively to the economy of many regions, provides bio- diversity of plant and animal populations and improves environmental quality. A separate CRP Grasslands signup is offered each year following general signup. Signed into law in 1985, CRP is one of the largest pri- vate-lands conservation programs in the United States. It was originally in-
Grasslands offers will be in early 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a press release. General signup for CRP will be open from Jan. 4, 2021, to Feb. 12, 2021; sign- up for CRP Grasslands runs fromMarch 15, 2021, to April 23, 2021. Both programs are competitive and provide an- nual rental payments for land devoted to conservation pur- poses, the press release said. “The Conservation Reserve Program and the many focused programs that come under it, like CRP Grasslands, are some of our most critical tools we have to help producers bet- ter manage their operations while conserving natu- ral resources,” said Nancy
other pollinators and in- creasing populations of ducks, pheasants, turkey, bobwhite quail, prairie chickens, grasshopper spar- rows, and many other birds. The successes of CRP con- tribute to USDA’s Agriculture Innovation Agenda and its goal of reducing the envi- ronmental footprint of U.S. agriculture by half by 2050. Earlier this year, USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue an- nounced the department-wide initiative to align resources, programs, and research to po- sition American agriculture to better meet future global demands. For more information on CRP, visit fsa.usda.gov or contact your local FSA coun- ty office.
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