Page 6 - SDWF Out of Doors

Out of Doors 6 May - July 2023
wItH cRP acRes dwIndlIng natIonally, congRess seeks RefoRms -
by: abbey stegenga
As the September expiration date
of the 2018 Farm Bill approaches,
several members of Congress hope
to further the program’s conservation
efforts and strengthen enrollment
incentives.
HENRY, S.D. – For nearly 20 years, Carolyn
Eck and her husband rented out their
pastureland for cattle grazing northwest of
Watertown, near Warner Lake. The land
has not been tilled since before Eck moved
to the property in 2003, she said.
It wasn’t until 2018, when cattle had mowed
down the pasture like every other year, that
Eck believed something was amiss with
her land. When she looked out upon her Carolyn Eck stands in front of the land she enrolled in the
pasture, she was devastated. Conservation Reserve Program in 2019 on her property
“I just thought, ‘Something isn’t right.’ It northwest of Watertown. She currently has 140 acres in
looked almost barren, starved. I don’t know the program. (Photo: Abbey Stegenga / SD News Watch) 2023 Farm Bill.
the accurate way to describe it,” Eck said.
The following year, Eck enrolled 140 acres in the federal Conservation
Reserve Program, which encourages landowners to protect
environmentally sensitive land by not farming it.
Those enrolled in CRP enter a 10- or 15-year contract with the U.S.
Department of Agriculture and receive an annual rental payment. In
exchange, CRP participants plant species that create habitat for wildlife
and improve the land’s overall health and quality.
Roughly four years into her contract, Eck said her CRP land has welcomed
more wildlife and has acted as an educational tool on rehabilitation for
farmers and environmental groups.
With a 37% decrease in the number of national CRP acres since 2007
and a continued need to preserve environmental health, landowners
and several members of Congress hope to see program reforms in the
next farm bill.
Payment max hasn’t changed since CRP’s first year in 1985
Under legislation that’s pending in Congress, future CRP participants
could receive more than double the current payments. They also could
receive more financial assistance in managing the land.
The CRP Improvement Act, which Republican Sen. John Thune of South
Dakota and Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota re-introduced
in January, proposes several changes:
• Raise the current annual payment limitation of $50,000, which was
set in 1985 when the program started, to $125,000 to account for
inflation and increasing land prices.
• Partially reimburse farmers for establishing infrastructure needed to
support livestock grazing on approved CRP land, such as fences and
water distribution.
• Assist landowners in paying for mid-contract management activities,
which are actions that landowners undertake to disturb the land.
According to the USDA, management activities mimic events like
storms, grazing and fires, which support the growth and diversity
of native plants by naturally disturbing the land. However, the CRP
Improvement Act would not help with costs related to haying or
grazing management.
• Permanently install State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE)
under Continuous CRP. SAFE is a CRP initiative in which farmers
establish wetlands, grasses and trees to create habitat
and food sources for threatened or endangered wildlife
species. Owen Fagerhaug, South Dakota’s Farm
Service Agency conservation program manager, said a
limitation prevents USDA from enrolling more than 25%
of a county’s eligible cropland acres in CRP. However,
if the county agrees, the USDA can waive that limit to
enroll land in Continuous CRP, which targets specific
conservation practices, such as wetland buffers. If the bill
passes, SAFE acres would also be able to bypass the
county CRP acreage limit.
Currently, the CRP Improvement Act sits with the U.S.
Senate’s Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and
Forestry. The bill was referred to the committee after
Thune and Klobuchar re-introduced it in January.
If Congress cannot come to an agreement by the 2018
Farm Bill’s expiration, it could extend the current farm bill
for several months while members decide the fate of the
Tall grasses
border the fence
surrounding
Carolyn Eck’s
CRP land near
Watertown.
According to
the USDA, CRP
grasses reduce
soil erosion,
create wildlife
habitat and
improve water
quality. (Photo:
Abbey Stegenga
/ SD News
A conservation-centered program
South Dakota currently has the most CRP acreage it has had since the
program’s inception in 1985 and is among the highest nationwide.
South Dakota had 2,104,715 acres enrolled in CRP as of May, accounting
for 9.15% of total CRP acres in the U.S. The Rushmore State now has the
third-largest number of CRP acres, behind Texas and Colorado, according
to USDA data.
Still, Fagerhaug said South Dakota counties are not near the 25% acreage
cap.
“(CRP) is a program to help environmentally sensitive land, improve wildlife
habitat, soil erosion, water quality, wind erosion and just conservation in
general,” he said.
Fagerhaug said the term “environmentally sensitive” encompasses varying
resource concerns that must be addressed to improve a landscape.
“That could be a buffer area around a wetland to help improve the water
quality. That could be some field windbreaks or farmstead shelter belts to
improve wind erosion, provide livestock shelter,” Fagerhaug said.
Pete Bauman, a South Dakota State University Extension Natural
Resources Field specialist, said CRP leads to a host of environmental
benefits. CRP incorporates diverse plant species that attract pollinators,
which in turn attract insects that bring in baby chicks, he said.
“We can use these lands without abusing them, and we still reap the
benefits of the water quality, erosion control, wildlife habitat,” Bauman
said.