USDA will allow Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) participants who are in the final year of their contracts to request voluntary termination after the primary nesting season for fiscal year 2022. USDA also announced flexibility for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP).
Approved participants will not have to repay rental payments, a flexibility to mitigate global food supply challenges caused by the Russia-Ukraine war and other factors, according to USDA.
“Putin’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine has cut off a critical source of wheat, corn, barley, oilseeds and cooking oil, and we’ve heard from many producers who want to better understand their options to help respond to global food needs,” said Zach Ducheneaux, administrator of USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). “This announcement will help producers make informed decisions about land use and conservation options.”
CRP participants with expiring acres will be mailed a letter with extra details and other options, such as reenrolling sensitive acres in the CRP continuous sign-up or growing organic crops. For producers who do not plan to farm the land from their expiring contracts, the Transition Incentives Program (TIP) can offer two additional annual rent payments after their contract expires, as long as they sell or rent their land to a beginning or veteran farmer or rancher or a member of a socially disadvantaged group.
Expiring water quality practices may be eligible to be reenrolled under the Clean Lakes, Estuaries and Rivers (CLEAR30) program and CLEAR30 options under CRP.
Producers interested in continuous CRP sign-up, CLEAR30 or TIP should contact FSA by Aug. 5.
Producers will be required to request voluntary termination in writing through their local USDA Service Center. Approved participants can begin preparations after the primary nesting season and will then be able to hay, graze, begin land preparation activities and plant a fall-seeded crop before Oct. 1.
USDA also encourages producers to consider Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) programs such as EQIP, CSP and the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program. NRCS is offering new flexibilities for EQIP and CSP contracts that contain cover cropping. Participants will be able to either modify their plans to plant a cover crop or delay their cover crop plans a year without having to terminate their existing contract.
Producers can learn more about options by contacting FSA and NRCS at their local USDA Service Center.— Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
