Conservation | Communities | Development
ConservationReserve Program (CRP) is a land conservation program administered by the FarmService Agency (FSA). In exchange for a yearly rental payment, farmers signed up in the program agree to set aside environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and establish plant species that will protect environmental health and quality. Contracts for land signed up in CRP range from 10 to 15 years in length. The goal of the program is to establish conservation cover to help protect water quality, prevent soil erosion, and provide wildlife habitat.
Created in 1985, CRP is one of the largest private-lands conservation programs in the United States. Thanks to voluntary participation by farmers and landowners, CRP has achieved significant goals in conservation and sustainability. CRP signup options include GeneralCRP, GrasslandCRP, and ContinuousCRP.
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The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) was first established by the Food SecurityAct of 1985 (also known as the 1985 Farm Bill). CRP was originally created to provide farmers a financial incentive (primarily consisting of a rental payment) to set aside environmentally sensitive farmland from production to provide conservation benefits such as improved water quality, improved soil health, and wildlife habitat. New types of CRP signup have been added alongside the General signup created in 1985, with Continuous signup being established in1996 and Grassland CRP being established in 2014. While General signup allows signup only during official signup periods, Continuous CRP allows noncompetitive signup at any time and includes several initiatives related to specific conservation priorities. Likewise, while General and Continuous signups focus on enrolling cropland, Grassland CRP focuses on competitive signup of pasturelands, rangelands, and other grasslands. In competitive signups, offers submitted by potential participants are ranked according to their expected benefits and the ones with the highest benefits are selected, while noncompetitive signups are administered on a first-come, first-serve basis. The wide variety of practices and signup types currently available provide many opportunities for CRP participants to find the combination that works best for them.
USDA Service Centers are designed to be a single location where customers can access the services provided by the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Rural Development agencies. This web site will provide the address of a USDA Service Center and other Agency offices serving your area along with information on how to contact them.
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