News

MN CREP off to good start in Minnesota

Minnesota officials say the implementation of an offshoot of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is going well.

The Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) along with multiple state agencies are working with local and federal partners to roll out the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program specific to the state, called MN CREP.

BWSR executive director John Jaschke says it allows landowners to voluntarily enroll marginal acres with a goal of improving water quality and enhancing habitat.

“Those cropland acres that are in (CREP) status can receive a payment that is a combination of federal and state (dollars) that results in a conservation easement on the property.  And we take care of the costs of putting the water back or grass back, depending on what the site is ready for.”

He tells Brownfield the private-land conservation program has been well received by Minnesota farmers.

“The areas that are the least productive are the places where the most opportunity exists for conservation.  So some (landowners) are just very interested in (simply) making a business decision to take some land that’s not very productive and put it into retirement status with grass, and possibly water on it.”

Landowners in more than 50 Minnesota counties have signed up for CREP since the state program launched this past summer.

Federal and state funds totaling around $500 million will help support new buffer strips, various wetland restorations and wellhead protection projects across 60,000 acres.