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More than 800,000 acres enrolled through CRP

USDA Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says more than 800,000 acres will be enrolled through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) this year.

Vilsack tells Brownfield CRP has become very competitive due to a cap set in the 2014 Farm Bill.

“In an effort to save money, Congress has limited us to 24 million acres.  And I think when they established that cap, they did it based on a different set of assumptions:  commodity prices were going to continue to be high.  Well, commodity prices obviously have come down, so there was terrific competition for CRP acres this year.”

USDA was only able to accommodate 410,000 of the 1.8 million acres requested in the general signup.

Vilsack says interest in continuous CRP has also reached unprecedented levels.

“330,000 acres have already been enrolled, which is three times the rate based on last year’s record participation in continuous.”

Vilsack says CRP will help generate roughly $2 billion into rural economies while providing farmers additional income opportunities.