An ever-larger share of land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve will be devoted to grasslands — nearly 4 of every 10 acres — with the results of this year’s signup for the long-term land stewardship program, said the Agriculture Department on Monday. With the new enrollments, the Conservation Reserve is near the 27-million-acre limit set by the 2018 farm law.
Grasslands accounted for 1.44 million of the 2.2 million acres accepted by the USDA for the reserve this summer. An additional 200,000 acres would enter through the so-called general signup to take large tracts of fragile land out of crop production. Some 565,000 acres have entered under the “continuous” signup for high-priority practices, such as filter strips and windbreaks, on smaller pieces of land.
With the acceptances, 10 million acres in the reserve will be grasslands, 8.5 million acres will be continuous enrollment, and 7.9 million acres will be general enrollment, for a total of 26.4 million acres.
High enrollment in the reserve, which pays an annual rent on contracts running 10 or 15 years, “is a testament to the commitments made by the farmers, ranchers, and landowners we serve to mitigate the impacts of climate change by conserving, protecting, and enhancing our natural resources,” said Zach Ducheneaux, Farm Service Agency administrator.
Some 9 million acres have been accepted under the grasslands option since 2021. Nationally, the minimum rental rate is $13 an acre per year for landowners who maintain rangeland and pasture as grazing lands. “Grasslands CRP permits producers to graze, harvest hay, and seed production while receiving an annual rental payment for maintaining the existing permanent cover that is offered,” said a USDA fact sheet.
States with the largest amount of land accepted under the grasslands option this year were Nebraska, with 237,853 acres; Colorado, 218,145 acres; and New Mexico, with 185,619 acres.