The USDA says there is now enough room in the Conservation Reserve that, for the first time in months, it will accept applications for high-priority stewardship projects, such as filter strips, that prevent erosion and maintain water quality on fragile land. Enrollment runs from today through Aug. 17 for the practices, which require comparatively small amounts of land.
Landowners get an annual rental payment for idling fragile land in the long-term Conservation Reserve, which is limited to a maximum of 24 million acres. At present, about 22.7 million acres are enrolled. The USDA accepted nearly 1.2 million acres last year of the high-priority projects, often called “continuous enrollment” because they ordinarily could enter the program at any time. However, the USDA shut off enrollment last fall when the Conservation Reserve roll topped 23.4 million acres.
The average USDA payment for so-called continuous practices in fiscal 2017 was $128 an acre, more than double the average $52 an acre for land enrolled in “general” signups, when large tracts are considered.
A limited set of practices will be eligible this year. They include filter strips, grass waterways, bioreactors to remove nitrate from runoff, duck nesting habitat and wetland restoration. The USDA said the 10-week signup period and the limited number of eligible practices “helps ensure that landowners with the most sensitive acreage will enroll in the program and avoid unintended competition with new and beginning farmers seeking leases.”
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition said the USDA excluded “several very effective in-field buffer practices,” such as contour grass strips, this year, and that it would try to get them included in the future. The coalition said continuous enrollment practices were “an important resource for producers and for improving water quality and habitat.”
There will be no general signup for the Conservation Reserve this year, said the USDA. A one-year extension will be offered to land with an expiring contract that has been in the reserve for less than 15 years. Contracts on 1.5 million acres, including continuous and general signup land, expire on Sept. 30.