Importance of CRP ‘can’t be overstated’ as Feds offer new signup opportunity

Washington — As the U.S. House of Representatives debates provisions in President Donald Trump’s budget reconciliation bill that includes potential cuts to some federal farm bill conservation programs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has authorized new general and continuous “CRP” signup for landowners.

The federal Conservation Reserve Program, or CRP, is considered by most wildlife advocates to be the Cadillac of farm bill conservation programs. It’s certainly one of the largest, conservation officials say, offering farmers, ranchers, and other landowners a range of conservation options.

First introduced in the 1985 farm bill, the voluntary program provides incentives and rental payments to landowners who choose to put a portion of their land into conservation cover, such as grasslands. Contracts typically run 10 to 15 years, which provides long-term environmental benefits.

Conservation officials say CRP is particularly helpful for farmers with less-productive or marginal cropland, helping them to establish valuable land cover to improve water quality, prevent soil erosion, and support wildlife habitat. The program also provides producers a steady, guaranteed income stream as a hedge against mercurial commodity markets (corn, soybeans, and other crops) and increases in farm input costs (fertilizer, seeds, fuel, etc.).

“As the Conservation Reserve Program approaches its 40th anniversary, it remains a pillar of the ecological and economic safety net for America’s farmers and ranchers,” said Andrew Schmidt, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s director of government affairs in Virginia, adding that CRP has helped producers manage risk while providing unmatched benefits for wildlife and water quality. “We commend USDA for reopening signups and urge farmers, ranchers, and landowners to take advantage of this proven conservation program that continues to pay dividends for rural economies, producers, and hunters.”

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According to the USDA, the current CRP signup, which runs through June 6, has roughly 1.8 million acres available for enrollment to max out the program at its statutory limit of 27 million acres nationwide. Conservations officials also say that the new signup is important to several states “with the highest number of acres expiring from CRP,” including Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Nebraska.

Minnesota, for example, currently has 965,841 enrolled CRP acres, according to the most-updated USDA statistics. But expiring contracts in the near term loom large, conservation officials say.

In 2026 and 2027, Minnesota will have expiring contracts on 81,945 and 93,785 acres, respectively. South Dakota and North Dakota, prime destinations for Minnesota hunters, could experience the same CRP acreage losses over the same period.

“CRP is critically important to Minnesota hunters and those who care about clean water, so getting producers signed up is obviously critically important, too,” said Dave Trauba, Minnesota DNR Wildlife Section manager. “Outside of our wildlife management system and federal waterfowl production areas, it’s one of the only programs that provides undisturbed habitat for numerous species of wildlife on a larger scale. The importance of CRP can’t be overstated.”   

Aaron Field, director of private lands conservation for the Theodore Conservation Partnership, agrees, saying it’s good that USDA recognized the value in prioritizing another signup.

“In farm country nationwide, the CRP is synonymous with habitat,” Field said. “The CRP’s ability to create and enhance habitat while improving water quality makes it one of the most important federal programs for hunters and anglers.”

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Field said CRP’s presence on the landscape has a cascading effect on wildlife and fish. Without the program, pheasant numbers would “plummet,” as would breeding habitat for waterfowl across the Upper Midwest’s prairie pothole region.

Sage grouse in the American West “would be at even greater risk.” And even brook trout populations in headwater streams would decline without CRP habitat to buffer heavy rains, keep streambanks intact, prevent erosion, and maintain and even improve water quality.

“The program is hugely important for many species that sportsmen and women love to pursue with a shotgun or a rod and reel,” Field said. “Simply put, without the program, we would lose hunting and fishing opportunities across rural America. It’s that important.”

Meanwhile, the TRCP, Pheasants Forever, Delta Waterfowl, Ducks Unlimited, and other conservation groups are pushing congress to pass a new five-year farm bill with a robust conservation title. The 2018 farm bill expired in 2023, and since then two one-year extensions have been passed. The current extension runs through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.

Without a new farm bill, conservation officials say programs such as CRP, as well as the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP), have an uncertain future.

“This has gone on long enough. We need a new farm bill, period,” said one conservation official. “Congress needs to do its job and stop this wave of uncertainty that could have serious impacts on farmland conservation.”

If you’re a landowner interested in CRP, contact your local USDA service center.