On January 12, the U.S. Department of Agriculture began accepting applications for the Continuous Conservation Reserve Program, which also includes the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP).

“We are pleased to announce we are now accepting Continuous CRP offers,” said FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux. “Continuous CRP is one of the best conservation tools we can provide producers and landowners. Whether a producer wants to focus on water quality benefits or work with one of our partners to address a natural resource concern in their area, the program offers many options to help you meet your resource conservation goals.”

There are several enrollment options within Continuous CRP, including:

• CREP: Working with conservation partners, CREP leverages federal and non-federal funds to target specific state, regional, tribal, or nationally significant conservation concerns.
• State Acres For Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE): The initiative restores vital habitat in order to meet high-priority state wildlife conservation goals.
• Highly Erodible Lands Initiative (HELI): Producers and landowners can enroll in CRP to establish long-term cover on highly erodible cropland that has a weighted erodibility index (EI) greater than or equal to 20.
• Farmable Wetlands Program: Producers and landowners can enroll land in CRP to restore previously farmed wetlands and wetland buffers, improving both vegetation and water flow.
• Clean Lake Estuaries and Rivers (CLEAR) Initiative and CLEAR30: This initiative prioritizes and offers additional incentives for water quality practices on the land that, if enrolled, will help reduce sediment loadings, nutrient loadings and harmful algal blooms. Through CLEAR30, a component of this initiative, these additional incentives for adoption of water quality practices can be accessed in 30-year contracts.

Producers interested in applying for Continuous CRP should contact the FSA at their local USDA Service Center by July 31, 2024, in order to have an offer effective by October 1, 2024. A producer can both enroll new acres into Continuous CRP and re-enroll any acres expiring on September 30, 2024. Offers will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis to ensure that the enrolled acreage does not exceed the statutory cap.