News Desk

Conservation Reserve Program Update: Conservation vs. Corn

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has long been a friend of conservationists. This voluntary program allows agricultural landowners to receive rental payments from the government for working to conserve and preserve soil, water and wildlife resources on their land.

Enrollment currently consists of 36 million acres, the largest public-private conservation partnership in the United States. For 2007, the 437,000 farms enrolled will receive an average of $49.42 per acre – totaling 1.8 billion.

Earlier this year, the USDA came under fire from conservationists for announcing that it did not plan to conduct a general sign-up for CRP during 2007 and 2008. It is estimated that this will result in at least 4 million acres being withdrawn from the program over the next few years. Much of the land coming out of CRP is located in the bread-basket states of the Midwest where demand for ethanol has bolstered corn prices. Several species of waterfowl, as well as pheasants and bobwhite quail, depend on the habitat provided by CRP in this region. Biologists fear populations of these game birds will be adversely affected.

The demand for ethanol is likely to increase as much as 50 percent in the next year. This will drive corn prices even higher and entice farmers to plant more. Since almost all of the area’s best farm ground is already in crop production, the increase will likely come from more marginal cropland previously planted in CRP. A March 30 statement from Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns confirmed that “market forces are inspiring changes that will help to meet the high demand for corn. U.S. farmers intend to plant 15 percent more corn acres, 90.5 million acres, in 2007. This would be an increase of 12 million acres over 2006 and the largest number since 1944.”

Johanns assured conservationists that acres under continuous CRP signup will not be affected by the general signup decision. These include riparian buffers and filter strips. USDA announced its intention to enroll 500,000 acres in new continuous CRP contracts, addressing specific habitat needs on a state-by-state basis.

Wildlife biologists and those citizens concerned about potential loss of wildlife habitat will be keeping a close eye on Conservation Reserve Program and the corn belt this summer.