USDA secures 2.2m acres for conservation efforts

Conservation reserve program approaches capacity

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's latest efforts in land conservation have successfully secured more than 2.2 million acres through the 2024 Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) offers. This initiative, spearheaded by the USDA’s Farm Service Agency, reflects a near-maximum enrollment, with the program cap set at 27 million acres.

Zach Ducheneaux, FSA Administrator, highlighted the significance of this milestone. “Reaching near the acreage cap of our Conservation Reserve Programs underscores the dedication to ecological preservation and climate resilience among our agricultural community,” he remarked.

Key contributors to this year’s CRP include the Grassland program, which saw nearly 1.44 million acres accepted. The program prioritizes the conservation of working grasslands, which are crucial for maintaining biodiversity and enhancing soil carbon storage, even under continued agricultural use.

In addition to Grassland CRP, the General and Continuous segments also recorded significant enrollments, reinforcing the CRP’s role in fostering land cover restoration to improve water quality and support diverse wildlife populations.

Producers interested in furthering conservation efforts can still participate through the Continuous CRP, which accepts enrollments on an ongoing basis, ensuring that conservation efforts are both sustained and adaptable to emerging environmental needs.