More than 3.4 million acres have been accepted in the general Conservation Reserve Program signup recently completed, the first general signup enrollments since 2016.

“The Conservation Reserve Program is one of our nation’s largest conservation endeavors and is critical in helping producers better manage their operations while conserving valuable natural resources,” said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. “The program marked its 35th anniversary this year, and we were quite pleased to see one of our largest signups in many years.”

For state-by-state information on general signup results, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/crp.

Over these 35 years, CRP has addressed multiple concerns while ensuring the most competitive offers are selected by protecting fragile and environmentally sensitive lands, improving water quality, enhancing wildlife populations, providing pollinator forage habitat, sequestering carbon in soil and enhancing soil productivity.

This general signup included offers for State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement, which allows producers to install practices that benefit high-priority, locally developed wildlife conservation objectives using targeted restoration of vital habitat. Over 95% of SAFE offers submitted were accepted under this general signup representing more than 487,500 acres.

The 2018 Farm Bill established a nationwide acreage limit for CRP, with the total number of acres that may be enrolled capped at 24.5 million acres in 2020 and growing to 27 million by 2023.

While the deadline for general CRP signup was Feb. 28, 2020, signups for continuous CRP, Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, CRP Grasslands and the Soil Health and Income Protection Program are ongoing. The CRP Grasslands deadline is May 15, and the SHIPP signup begins March 30, 2020, and ends Aug. 21, 2020.

Continuous and Grasslands enrollments are available nationwide. All counties located within the Prairie Pothole region states of Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota are eligible for SHIPP.

This spring, FSA will roll out a new pilot conservation program, the Clean Lakes, Estuaries, and Rivers 30, known as CLEAR 30.

USDA Service Centers are open for business by phone appointment only and field work will continue with appropriate social distancing.

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