Conservation Reserve Program Sign-up 29
August 30 to September 24, 2004
Overview
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) will hold a Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general sign-up from August 30 to September 24, 2004.
CRP is a voluntary program available to agricultural producers to help them safeguard environmentally sensitive land. Producers enrolled in CRP plant long-term, resource-conserving covers to improve the quality of water, control soil erosion, and enhance wildlife habitat. In return, FSA provides participants with rental payments and cost-share assistance. Contract duration is between 10 and 15 years.
FSA administers CRP, while other USDA agencies and partners provide technical support. More detailed information on CRP is available in the FSA fact sheet “Conservation Reserve Program.”
Submitting CRP Offers
Crp participants with contracts expiring on September 30, 2004, or September 30, 2005, may submit offers during CRP sign-up 29
To submit CRP offers, producers must visit their local FSA offices. FSA will accept offers only during the sign-up period (August 30 to September 24, 2004).
Eligible Producers
To be eligible for CRP enrollment, a producer must have owned or operated the land for at least 12 months prior to close of the CRP sign-up period unless:
• The New owner acquired the land due to the previous owner’s death;
• The ownership change occurred due to foreclosure where the owner exercised a timely right or redemption in accordance with state law; or
• The circumstances of the acquisition present adequate assurance to FSA that the new owner did not acquire the land for the purpose of placing it in CRP.
Eligible Land
To be eligible for placement in CRP, land must be either:
• Cropland (including field margins) that is planted or considered planted to an agricultural commodity 4 of the previous 6 crop years from 1996 to 2001, and which is physically and legally capable of being planted in a normal manner to an agricultural commodity;
• Certain marginal pastureland that is enrolled in the Water Bank Program; or
• Certain land devoted to hardwood trees that were under CRP contract which expired on September 30, 2001, or earlier.
For more information, contact the Calvert FSA office at (410)-535-1521 Ex. 2