A significant loss of grassland habitat has been documented recently, likely as a result of high agricultural commodity prices. A study recently released by the University of Wisconsin indicates that 7.3 million acres of non-cropland was converted to cropland in the conterminous United States from 2008 to 2012, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. Slightly over 5.6 million (77 percent) of those acres were grasslands prior to conversion. That total includes 1.6 million acres of native prairie lands. These losses were offset somewhat by the retirement of 4.36 million acres of croplands during the same period, mostly due to enrollment of these lands in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).

In addition to total acres affected, the researchers were able to pinpoint where these changes were occurring. Some of the strongest rates of conversion to cropland occurred in the Plains states, southern Iowa and northern Missouri where the largest complexes of grassland habitat in the nation are found.

As commodity prices have dropped in the last couple of years, the pressure to convert non-croplands to croplands has also likely declined. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) long-term forecast, total crop acreage nationwide is expected to decline from an average of 257 million acres in 2012-2014 to 246 million acres in 2017. In 2015, USDA projects about 89 million acres of corn will be planted, compared to the 95.4 million acres that were planted to corn in 2012.

Unfortunately this excess cropland is coming out of production at the same time that the cap on CRP acreage has been substantially lowered. In the 2008 Farm Bill, the cap for CRP enrollment was 32 million acres. In the 2014 Farm Bill, that cap was lowered to 24 million acres. Current enrollment in the program is currently hovering near the 24 million acre mark and USDA does not plan to offer a general sign-up for CRP during 2015. Both factors limit the opportunity for these lands that are coming out of production to be enrolled in CRP.

The University of Wisconsin study was recently published online in the journal Environmental Research Letters. (pmr)