Agricultural producers and landowners can sign up for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), a cornerstone conservation program offered by USDA Farm Service Agency. The General CRP sign-up will run from Jan. 31 to March 11, and the Grassland CRP sign-up will run from April 4 to May 13.
Producers with existing CRP that expired will receive a letter notifying them of the sign-up and their options. FSA will focus on the general offers during this sign-up and the process will be competitive with points developed for the type of CRP, including the soil, plant cover and wildlife benefits.
All FSA needs to know when a participant receives a letter is that the participant is interested in re-enrolling the CRP acres. This can be accomplished by a phone call to the Tallahatchie FSA office.
General CRP helps producers and landowners establish long-term, resource-conserving plant species, such as approved grasses or trees, to control soil erosion, improve water quality and enhance wildlife habitat on cropland.
Meanwhile, Grassland CRP is a working lands program, helping landowners and operators protect grassland, including rangeland and pastureland and certain other lands, while maintaining the areas as working grazing lands. Priority is given to grasslands that are threatened by development activities
Landowners and producers interested in CRP should contact their local USDA Service Center to learn more or to apply for the program, for General CRP before the March 11 deadline, and for Grassland CRP before the May 13 deadline.
Service Center staff continue to work with agricultural producers via phone, email and other digital tools. Due to the pandemic, some USDA Service Centers are open to limited visitors. Additionally, fact sheets and other resources are available at fsa.usda.gov/crp.
