April/May 1997
A Look at the New CRP
Library
Home
E-Mail
Back
Prairie Grains is the
official publication of
the Minnesota
Association of
Wheat Growers,
North Dakota Grain
Growers Association,
South Dakota Wheat,
Inc., and the
Minnesota Barley
Growers Association.
by Margie Williams. Sr. Vice President
National Association of Wheat Growers
We'll soon have a good look at the new CRP. Producers who signed up for the program in March will be notified by the first of June whether their offers have been accepted by USDA under the new rules. Lands accepted into the CRP will address its three primary goals: erosion reduction, improvement of water quality and the enhancement of wildlife habitat. The selection of lands offered by producers in March will indicate how USDA intends to balance these goals.
The March signup will replace 1997 expiring contracts, which comprise about three-fourths of the current CRP inventory. It is not likely that all expiring contracts will be replaced, however; additional signups will be necessary to maintain the CRP at its full operating level.
Secretary Glickman is a strong advocate for the CRP, and has stated his intention to maintain the program at its authorized level of 36.4 million acres, in spite of active opposition from grain companies and other agribusiness interests. They argue that no more than 20 million acres should be held in the CRP because more land is needed to produce commodities for domestic and world markets. The National Grain and Feed Association has said that a larger CRP will 'tax away' 40 percent of the economic benefits forecast for U.S. agriculture under the Uruguay Round.
March signup is 'Trial Run'
The March signup will be a 'trial run' for the new CRP rules and procedures. In Congressional testimony, NAWG president Phil McLain urged the agriculture committees to assess the results of the signup and determine whether the long term goals of the CRP can be met under the final rules and procedures that will be in place for the March signup, or whether adjustments need to be made to achieve a balanced program. The NAWG has also emphasized the importance of ensuring that the EBI scoring system does not result in a fundamental geographic shift of CRP acres from one region to another.
Under the rules in place for the signup, the potential environmental benefits of taking land offered by producers out of production will be evaluated and ranked using an Environmental Benefits Index (EBI). The cost to the government of the ten-year contract will also be scored. Once scored, every bid offered will be compared to all other bids offered nationally, and selections will be made from that ranking.
Use of the EBI is intended to ensure that only the most environmentally sensitive lands are selected, using the fewest dollars possible. The criteria used to determine the EBI rankings include benefits to wildlife habitat, erosion control, water quality, air quality and cost. Lands in state-designated conservation priority areas will also receive extra points.
Rental rates for new contracts will be based on the relative productivity of soils within the county and the local dryland cash rent or cash rent equivalent for similar land types within the county. This system was in place for the 13th signup last year, and resulted in county bid caps that were unacceptably low in wheat production areas, particularly for less productive land that is often more in need of protection than more productive land. FSA called for a reevaluation of procedures used to establish the bid caps, and adjustments were made in most areas.
The NAWG continues to express concern, however, that in many areas bid caps will be too low to attract marginally productive lands. Rental rates will be key to achieving a desirable mix of environmentally sensitive lands in the CRP, and in particular, highly erodible lands in wind erosion regions. In his Congressional testimony, NAWG's McLain urged the committee to include a review of rental rates in effect for the 15th signup as part of its oversight of CRP rules and procedures.
The NAWG has also been working with Congressional leaders to enact legislation allowing a one-year extension of CRP contracts which expire this fall. The Secretary's previous authority to offer extensions was explicitly eliminated in the fiscal 1997 appropriations bill funding the Department of Agriculture.
Winter wheat producers who are now in the CRP, and who wish to reenroll under the new rules, are at a serious disadvantage because of the late signup. They will not have a decision on their bids to reenroll until long after planting preparation should have begun. They must be willing to either put next year's crop on CRP ground at risk while they wait for USDA's decision on whether their bids have been accepted, or return land to production that would have qualified for re-enrollment. Premature destruction of wildlife habitat and established cover which provides critical erosion control will occur if action to extend contracts is not taken immediately.