The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced that it would be holding a sign-up for general Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres later this year. This is the first enrollment opportunity for general CRP since 2013, according to the Wildlife Management Institute. In addition, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the agency is making funding available to enroll an additional 800,000 acres in continuous CRP to enhance wetlands and wildlife habitat.

"Today's Conservation Reserve Program news is big for upland habitat in terms of quantity and quality," said Dave Nomsen, vice president of governmental affairs for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. "General sign-ups, in combination with high-value continuous enrollments, will help keep CRP at its acreage cap ? 24 million acres ? which is imperative for pheasants, quail, waterfowl and other wildlife. And targeted, continuous CRP programs like the State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) initiative, Upland Habitat Buffers initiative, Duck Nesting Habitat initiative, and the Pollinator Habitat initiative raise the bar for upland habitat quality and wildlife while providing additional incentives for landowners."

Created in the 1985 Farm Bill, CRP is 30 years old. It hit peak enrollment in 2007 with 36.8 million acres in the program. High commodity prices in recent years provided economic incentive for producers to allow their CRP contracts to expire and put the ground back into crop production. In response to the declining interest, Congress lowered the cap on the program in the 2014 Farm Bill from 32 million acres to 24 million acres. More recent record harvests of corn and soybeans have driven current prices back down and are likely resulting in increased interest in the program.

Currently CRP enrollment is about 1.7 million acres below this year's cap with contracts on another 1.9 million acres expected to expire this September. This next general sign-up period will begin on December 1, 2015 and extend through February 26, 2016. Landowners with CRP contracts expiring this September will be given the opportunity to extend their agreements for one more year to avoid a break in program enrollment if that's their desire. Producers can enroll in continuous CRP anytime throughout the year. Contracts for CRP are in effect for 10 to 15 years. (pmr)