CRP Transition Option
Program Basics
The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Transition Option for beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers is brand new in the 2008 Farm Bill.
The CRP Transition Option offers a special incentive of two years of extra CRP rental payments to owners of land which is currently in the CRP but returning to production, who rent or sell to beginning or socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers who will use sustainable grazing practices, resource-conserving cropping systems, or transition to organic production. Any qualified beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher is eligible to participate, except for family members of the retiring owner or operator of the CRP ground in question.
Millions of acres of land covered by expiring CRP contracts will return to production in the next few years. On October 31, 2009, total CRP acreage was 31.1 million acres, down from 36.8 million acres enrolled on September 30, 2007 and below the new acreage limit of 32 million acres imposed by the 2008 Farm Bill. USDA estimates that CRP contracts on another 4.4 million acres will expire in 2010, with an equal number the following year. The CRP Transition Option offers an important opportunity for beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers to get a start on the land while also increasing the likelihood that the ecological integrity of the land will be protected.
The mechanics of the new CRP Transition Option works as follows:
- One year prior to the termination of a CRP contract, a CRP owner or operator who is participating in the CRP Transition Option can allow a beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher who can begin to make conservation and land improvements and/or begin the organic certification process on the land covered by the CRP contract.
- On or near the date that the CRP contract is terminated, the retired or retiring owner or operator will sell, enter into a long-term lease, or lease with an option to purchase, some or all of the land that was covered by CRP to the participating beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher.
- The participating beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher must develop and implement a conservation plan on the land that was covered by CRP.
- On the date that the participating beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher takes possession of the land through ownership or lease, they will have the option to enroll in the Conservation Stewardship Program or the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. They will also have the option of re-enrolling portions of the land into the CRP through the “continuous sign-up” CRP which is for conservation buffer practices such as contour grass strips, riparian buffers, or grassed waterways.
- The USDA Farm Service Agency will continue making payments to the retired or retiring owner or operator for two additional years after the date that the CRP contract terminates.
2008 Farm Bill Changes
This is a new program option within CRP created by the 2008 Farm Bill.
Legislative Authority
Section 2111 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act (FCEA) of 2008 amends Section 1235(c)(1)(B) of the Food Security Act of 198, to be codified at 16 U.S.C. Section 3835(c)(1)(B), to create the Conservation Reserve Program Transition Incentives for Beginning and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers.
Funding
The CRP Transition Option is available to all CRP landowners and beginning or socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers who are otherwise eligible for CRP participation. The ultimate cost of the program option will be determined by how many CRP landowners and beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers sign up. The Congressional Budget Office, responsible for estimating the cost of legislation, predicted the new transition option could cost $16 million over the next five years (2008-12) and a total of $25 million over the next ten years (2008-17).
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CRP Transition Option Funding Estimate |
||||||
|
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
5 year cost |
10 yr cost |
|
0 |
$1 M |
$3 M |
$4 M |
$8 M |
$16 M |
$25 M |
Based on the Congressional Budget Office’s estimation of how many farmers and ranchers will participate in the CRP Transition Option each year.
Implementation Basics
The program will be administered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will have responsibilities for approving conservation plans and for offering the new farmers and ranchers enrollment opportunities in the CSP or EQIP programs.
FSA is drafting rules and regulations to govern the program implementation. The process of issuing the rule had slowed down due to a dispute over the need, timing, and scope of and environmental impact analysis for the changes to the program made by the 2008 Farm Bill. However, NSAC has been successful in our efforts to have the CRP Transition Option implemented in 2010 without being delayed by inclusion in a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. We now expect an Interim Final Rule for the CRP Transition Program to be posted in the Federal Register and opened for public comment in the spring of 2010. Sign-up for the CRP Transition Option will commence when the Interim Final Rule is published.
USDA Contact Information
Information about the CRP Transition Option will be posted on the Farm Service Agency’s Conservation Program page: www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=copr&topic=landing.
To find your local office, visit FSA’s Web site: http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app?state=us&agency=fsa.
Beverly Preston, FSA Program Manager, Conservation and Environmental Division, 202-720-9563, beverly.preston@usda.gov.
Patricia Engler, NRCS National Program Manager for the Conservation Reserve Program, 202-720-1836, patricia.engler@wdc.usda.gov.