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New CRP enrollments doubled

BrownfieldAppImageUSDA has announced nearly $1.7 Billion in payments to landowners enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) for this year.

USDA Farm Service Administrator Val Dolcini tells Brownfield new land enrolled into the program was double that of last year in part because of current crop prices.  “Commodity prices have declined and so folks are looking at different options for what they want to do with land that might otherwise be planted to corn or beans or a different crop.”

He says more than 1.3 Million acres were newly enrolled into CRP and more than one-half Million Americans volunteered to protect almost 24 Million acres of wetlands, grassland and wildlife habitat for 2016 through the program.  “We want to get lands into CRP that are going to be environmentally sensitive, it could be a highly erodible piece of land, it could be a wetland, or it could be something that’s involved in other conservation initiatives as well.”

The CRP program provides farmers and ranchers with financial assistance to remove environmentally sensitive land from production for 10 to 15 year contracts.

AUDIO: Interview with Val Dolcini

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