The 46^th general sign-up for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is underway.  The enrollment period opened on December 1^st and will continue until February 26^th of 2016, according to the Wildlife Management Institute.

This year also marks the 30^th anniversary of the program. Enrollment in CRP peaked in 2007 with 36.8 million acres. In the 2014 Farm Bill, Congress downsized the program by nearly one-third to 24 million acres by 2017. Current enrollment in the program is between 23 and 24 million acres with contracts on another 1.6 million acres due to expire next September.

Initially a large proportion of the acres enrolled in CRP were big fields of relatively low value, highly erodible land in the Great Plains. Over the years, there's been a shift to target high priority areas through related initiatives such as the State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE). Currently, more than 1 million CRP acres are associated with SAFE initiatives around the country. (pmr)