The Conservation Reserve, the largest U.S. land retirement program, holds 25.58 mln ac, down 30 pct from its peak of 36.77 mln ac in 2007, at latest count by USDA. The decline in enrollment coincides with the boom in agricultural prices that began in the middle of the past decade. The boom inspired questions whether fragile land is going back into crops when it should stay out of production.
The reserve was created during the agricultural recession of the mid-1980s and pays landowners an annual rent if they agree to idle crop land for at least 10 years. At times, roughly 10 pct of U.S. cropland was in the reserve, with rental payments totaling $2 bln a year.
Enrollment in the reserve dropped sharply since fiscal 2011, when it was 31.1 mln ac. It was 29.5 mln ac in FY12 and 26.8 mln ac in FY13. It fell to 25.58 mln ac early in FY14, the current fiscal year. Five states in the Plains – Texas at 3.25 mln ac, Kansas at 2.36 mln ac, Colorado at 2.07 mln ac, Montana at 1.99 mln ac and North Dakota at 1.78 mln ac – account for 45 pct of U.S. enrollment. The Plains have dominated enrollment for years.
The 2014 farm law calls for a step-down in the Conservation Reserve as part of putting more emphasis on soil and water conservation on working lands. The current enrollment is nearly 2 mln ac under the ceiling of 27.5 mln ac for FY14. The succeeding steps are a maximum of 26 mln ac in FY15, 25 mln ac in FY16 and 24 mln ac in FY17.