May 2, 2013

Pheasants Forever workshops to assist landowners in CRP enrollment

The Farm Service Agency will administer a Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general sign-up May 20, 2013 through June 14, 2013. To get the word out about this sign-up period and to assist landowners in signing up, Kansas Pheasants Forever biologists will conduct a series of workshops across the state.

The workshops will be set up to answer any questions landowners have about CRP, as well as provide attendees with information on how they can improve their chances of getting accepted through the use of practices beneficial to wildlife. Several of the workshop locations are accepting walk-in customers and appointments to provide one-on-one, site-specific consultations. To find a Pheasants Forever CRP workshop near you, see the list below.

Landowners enrolled in the CRP program receive annual rental payments and cost-share assistance to establish long-term, resource-conserving covers on eligible farmland. Land that is not currently enrolled in CRP can be offered during sign-up if all eligibility requirements are met. Contracts awarded during this general sign-up will become effective October 1, 2013.

The CRP program was first included in the 1985 Farm Bill to reduce soil erosion by taking land out of production and establishing permanent cover. At the time, it was estimated that topsoil was being lost at a rate of 3 billion tons per year due to erosion. Today’s CRP program has evolved to address issues of water quality, as well as wildlife habitat. In Kansas, CRP has reduced erosion, improved water and air quality, and provided more than 2 million acres of native grass habitat critical to prairie wildlife, including the lesser prairie chicken.

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