Calling all landowners with land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program!

If you have land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and you are trying to decide what to do with it once the contract comes to a close, consider the benefits of transferring that land to a beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher. A new federal program, the Conservation Reserve Program Transition Option, can provide you two years of additional CRP payments for doing just that.

The program is designed to help transition land to beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers and to return it to production using sustainable grazing or crop production methods.

With thousands of acres set to come out of the Conservation Reserve Program in the next few years, the option provides an incentive to ensure some of those acres help beginners or socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers get a start in agriculture in a conservation-based manner.

Here is how the program works:
For the Beginning or Socially Disadvantaged Farmer or Rancher
One year before the contract is set to expire the beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher is allowed to make conservation and land improvements and/or begin organic certification.

An approved conservation plan for the land must be developed and implemented.

To assist with implementing conservation practices and management systems, the farmer or rancher will be provided the opportunity to enroll the land in the Conservation Stewardship Program or the Environmental Quality Incentives Program.

For the CRP Contract Holder/Landowner
When the CRP contract expires, the landowner/contract holder must sell or provide a long-term lease of the land (with an option to purchase) to the beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher.

The landowner/contract holder will receive two additional annual rental payments for selling or leasing the land.

The Farm Service Agency will be in charge of administering this program as they administer the Conservation Reserve Program. The Natural Resource Conservation Service will be in charge of working with the beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher to develop a conservation plan and assist them with enrolling in either the Environmental Quality Incentives Program or the Conservation Stewardship Program.

Contact: Traci Bruckner, tracib@cfra.org or 402.687.2103 x 1016 for more information.