Del.icio.us  Digg  facebook  MySpace  Twitter  Google  Bookmark Me  LinkedIn  StumbleUpon  Permalink

New Summary Shows Benefits of CRP

The Conservation Reserve Program remains the largest public-private conservation partnership in America with more than 36 million acres under contract in FY 2007. A new report released by USDA's Farm Service Agency summarizes CRP's accomplishments and reports that in FY 2007 CRP:

• Reduced runoff of sediment by 207 million tons,
• Lessened nitrogen runoff by 480 million pounds,
• Decreased runoff of phosphorus by 108 million pounds,
• Reduced soil erosion by wind and water by 470 million tons,
• Sequestered 50 million tons of carbon dioxide,
• Restored or maintained 2.1 million acres of wetland and adjacent upland buffers, and
• Established or maintained 1.9 million acres of grass and forested buffers along the nation's rivers and streams.

The report also provides a synopsis of CRP activities in FY 2007 and a legislative and programmatic history of CRP going back to CRP's initial authorization in the 1985 farm bill. In addition, the summary includes results of 2006's re-enrollment and contract extension (REX) offer to holders of contracts originally set to expire between 2007 and 2010. It shows that contracts on 23 million of the 28 million eligible acres were extended or re-enrolled under new 10- to 15-year contracts,

The FY 2007 CRP annual report, titled "CRP Enrollment Statistics and Program Summary," is now available online at: www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/annual_consv_2007.pdf.

Source: Feedstuffs