One more week to sign up for Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)

Winneshiek County landowners have only one more week to sign up for this year's Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).  The sign-up deadline is Friday, June 14th.  "Individuals who are interested in signing up should come into our office now," says Julie Vulk, County Executive Director for the Winneshiek County FSA Office.  "Soil rental rates have increased, producers with expiring contracts have been seen significant increases in rates when bidding to re-enroll."

Interested participants are encouraged to contact the Winneshiek County FSA Office to begin the sign up process or to complete it.  Offers must be completed in their entirety by the end of sign up, June 14th in order to be considered eligible. "Making offers for enrollment into this program takes time , so we want to make sure that everyone who wants to enroll into this program has the opportunity, so producers need to allow themselves adequate time before sign up ends," added Vulk.
 
Following sign-up, all offers for CRP will be evaluated and ranked using an Environmental Benefits Index (EBI) for the environmental benefits to be gained from enrolling the land in CRP.  The EBI consists of five environmental factors (wildlife, water, soil, air, and enduring benefits) and a cost factor.  Decisions on the EBI cutoff will be made after the sign-up ends and after analyzing the EBI data of all the offers.
 
CRP is the largest voluntary private-land conservation program.  It helps farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural producers use their environmentally sensitive land for conservation purposes.  In return for offering the land, the Farm Service Agency provides participants rental payments, and cost share on behalf of the Commodity Credit Corporation.

For more information on CRP, please contact the Winneshiek County FSA office or the website at http://www.fsa.usda.gov.