Conservation Reserve Program (CRP): Status and Issues (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Aug. 29, 2014 |
| Report Number |
R42783 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Megan Stubbs, Specialist in Agricultural Conservation and Natural Resources Policy |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
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Summary:
The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) provides payments to agricultural producers to take highly erodible and environmentally sensitive land out of production and install resource conserving practices for 10 or more years. CRP was first authorized in the Food Security Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-198, 1985 farm bill) and is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Farm Service Agency (FSA) with technical support from other USDA agencies. Participants offer land for enrollment through two types of sign-up: general and continuous. General sign-ups are competitive and only open during select times. Continuous sign-ups are not competitive, always open for enrollment, and offer additional financial incentives to those who qualify. Continuous sign-ups are targeted to specific environmental and resource concerns and operate through a number of initiatives. The largest and most well-known is the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), which partners with states to address agricultural-related environmental concerns in specific geographic regions. While the majority of current acres enrolled were under general sign-ups (19.7 million acres), an increasing number are enrolled under continuous sign-ups (5.8 million acres).
The Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 farm bill, P.L. 113-79) reauthorized CRP and reduced the enrollment cap from 32 million acres to 24 million acres by FY2018. The 2014 farm bill made several changes centered on permitted activities. Emergency harvesting, grazing, and other use of forage are permitted, in some cases, without a reduction in rental rate, as well as livestock grazing for a beginning farmer or rancher. Other approved activities, such as annual or routine grazing, may continue to require a reduction in rental rate. The Grassland Reserve Program (GRP) was repealed in the 2014 farm bill. Grassland contracts, similar to what was repealed under GRP, are now eligible under CRP. The 2014 farm bill also allows CRP participants the opportunity to terminate their contract early if the land has been enrolled longer than five years and it does not contain environmentally sensitive practices.
A number of factors have impacted CRP enrollment recently, mainly high commodity crop prices. These strong prices have encouraged farmers to put CRP acres, even marginal acres, back into production. This pressure could potentially reduce the number of CRP acres offered for reenrollment once they have expired or cause existing current CRP participants to seek an early release from their CRP contract. Some participants also have cited a potentially low CRP rental rate compared to the market rental rate as a reason for decreased enrollment interest. Despite these factors, enrollment has increased under continuous sign-ups and demand for the program, in general, still exceeds the current enrollment level.
CRP has contributed to a number of environmental benefits including reduced soil erosion, improved water quality through wetlands and field buffers, reduced fertilizer use, and increased wildlife habitat. The recent expiration of a number of acres from the program, and a reduced reenrollment, has some concerned that a number of the environmental benefits gained under CRP could be lost or reduced if land is returned to production.
