06/07/05 CRP plan could be out this summer

06/07/05 CRP plan could be out this summer

Farm and Ranch June 7, 2005 Recall that last fall the USDA took comments on the future of the Conservation Reserve Program, CRP. The department had published several questions in the Federal Register that it was seeking input on. Jim Little, Administrator of the Farm Service Agency, recently provided this update to farmbroadcasters on where the process is now. Little: "We got over five-thousand comments on how people felt we should continue the CRP program. We are evaluating those comments now. We are hoping to have a plan put together this summer with some proposals on the table to go out on how we do plan on re-enrolling and extending acres, particularly to make sure that we meet the President's goal of enrolling the full 39.2 million acres." Now USDA has announced it will hold a public meeting June 24th in Washington D.C. take some further comments regarding re-enrolling and extension of certain CRP contracts. Contracts on much of the land currently in the CRP will expire in a few years. Of the approximately 35 million acres in the program now, contracts will expire on 16 million acres in 2007 and on another six million acres in 2008. The Conservation Reserve Program was created in the 1985 Farm Bill and it makes annual rental payments to producers who agree to take highly erodible cropland out of production for 10 to 15 years by planting it with grass and/or trees. The program has both its supporters and critics. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.
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