USDA will begin distributing approximately $2.14 billion in payments to eligible agricultural producers and landowners through key conservation and safety-net programs. The $2.14 billion in payments is divided as follows:
- Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and CRP Transition Incentive Program (CRP TIP): More than $1.7 billion.
- Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage (ARC/PLC) programs: Over $447 million (the ARC and PLC payments are related to 2023 crops).
The CRP’s current enrollment is nearly 26 million acres.
The combination of the general signup (199,214 acres), continuous signup for fiscal year (FY) 2023 (693,920 acres) and new Grasslands CRP enrollments (1.44 million acres) and acres exiting the program will put CRP acreage at 26 million. At the end of August, there were 24.7 million acres in the program. USDA currently cannot take in any new CRP enrollments at this time as the authority for such activities expired Sept. 30, 2024, with the expiration of provisions in the 2018 Farm Bill. However, USDA data shows that nearly contracts on nearly 186,000 acres for FY 2024 enrollment via continuous signups were approved prior to that date.
The top five states for CRP acreage are:
1. Colorado: 2,978,741 acres
2. South Dakota: 2,626,430 acres
3. Nebraska: 2,423,361 acres
4. Texas: 2,225,310 acres
5. Kansas: 2,040,412 acres
USDA has also allocated $21 million for projects to enhance the monitoring, assessment, and evaluation of the Conservation Reserve Program.
USDA launches initiative to preserve wildlife corridors across public and private lands.
USDA agencies, including the Forest Service and Farm Service Agency, will collaborate with state, tribal, and federal partners to protect wildlife corridors on public and private lands, officials announced Monday. The initiative emphasizes voluntary, incentive-based conservation programs to promote habitat connectivity.
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack directed the agencies to integrate wildlife corridor considerations into their planning processes. With 193 million acres of federal forests and 880 million acres of private farmland at stake, the effort aims to break down bureaucratic barriers and ensure sustainable conservation across jurisdictions.
