Over 24,000 CRP acres signed up in Nebraska

    U.S. Department of Agriculture officials accepted more than 1 million acres in this year’s Conservation Reserve Program General signup.
    The signup resulted in the acceptance of 24,609 CRP acres in Nebraska.
    This is one of several signups that USDA’s Farm Service Agency is holding for the program.
    The results for CRP General signup reflect the continued importance of CRP as a tool to help producers invest in the long-term health, sustainability, and profitability of their land and resources, said Tim Divis, FSA Acting State Executive Director in Nebraska.
    Offers for new land in this General CRP signup totaled about 295,000 acres nationwide. Producers submitted re-enrollment offers for 891,000 expiring acres, reflecting the successes of participating in CRP longer term.
    The total number of CRP acres will continue to climb in the coming weeks once FSA accepts acres from the Grassland CRP signup, Divis said, which closed May 26.
    Additionally, so far this year, FSA has received 761,000 offered acres for the Continuous CRP signup, for which FSA accepts applications year-round.
    Participating producers and landowners should  remember that submitting and accepting a CRP offer is the first step, and producers still need to develop a conservation plan before contracts become effective on October 1, Divis said.
    Each year, during the window between offer acceptance and land enrollment, some producers ultimately decide not to enroll some accepted acres, without penalty.  
    Through CRP, producers and landowners establish long-term, resource-conserving plant species, such as approved grasses or trees, to control soil erosion, improve soil health and water quality, and enhance wildlife habitat on agricultural land.