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USDA issuing over $2 billion in payments for conservation and safety-net programs

USDA’s Farm Service Agency will distribute more than $1.7 billion through its conservation reserve program (CRP).

Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs John Berge tells Brownfield…

“It offers opportunity for producers to not only get some land out of production that may not be as fruitful for them, but also to meet some of the goals and objectives outlined in the statute, whether it’s habitat improvement or water quality.”

Berge says funding is distributed through one of three CRP programs.

“One is the traditional CRP designed to set aside marginal agricultural land and put into permanent cover for a contract period of either 10 or 15 years. There’s also the continuous CRP program, designed for those special, environmentally sensitive lands and some of those types of targeted approaches for habitat improvement or water quality improvement. Then the third program is a grasslands CRP program, which is designed to keep lands working,” he says.

Berge says the amount of enrolled CRP acreage has increased by 21% since 2021.

Eligible farmers and landowners should receive payments within the next two weeks. 

Nearly $450 million will also be distributed through the Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage program (ARC/PLC).

Berge says the next round of sign-ups will be contingent on extension or reauthorization of the farm bill.

AUDIO: John Burge, USDA FSA