Farm Bill: CRP

The best researched and documented USDA conservation program has been the Conservation Reserve Program. This program has converted millions of acres of cropland to grass cover across the prairies, and to grass or forest cover in the Southeast. CRP removes eroding cropland from cultivation and protects it with perennial vegetation under 10-15 year contracts.

Bird populations have been shown to utilize CRP, with some studies reporting increases in reproductive rates and population gains attributable to CRP.

Surveys of bird populations over the past 35 years have documented the decline of more grassland species than in any other guild of birds. While some grassland birds are able to nest in croplands, their nests have high rates of failure. This can also lead to habitat fragmentation, producing patches that lack sufficient size to support many bird species or an increase in predators.

Started in the 1986 Farm bill, CRP fields are much more beneficial to a wide variety of breeding birds than are the cropland fields that they replaced. Tracts of untilled native prairie however are tremendously important to grassland birds supporting many species that rarely if ever use cropland or even CRP fields such as Burrowing Owl, Sprague’s Pipit, Baird’s Sparrow, and Chestnut-collared Longspur. While CRP is a beneficial program, maintaining extant native prairie should be a high priority for the conservation of birds. It is, therefore, critical that farm programs do not directly or indirectly encourage conversion of native prairie to cultivation while seeking to restore perennial grasslands to existing areas of cropland.

Congress has recognized three special areas of wildlife of national concern: at-risk species that are or may become endangered and recognized by the ESA; migratory birds in general, recognized through domestic policy (NMBCA) and international treaties (MBTA); and waterfowl, recognized through domestic policy (NAWCA). CRP is contributing significantly to rebounding waterfowl populations but can do more to benefit at risk species and migratory birds. CRP should reflect these priorities and we believe it can do so with important and modest changes that fully maintains the existing program structure.

ABC’s efforts on the development of the next Farm bill have thus far been to develop legislative policy that will allow the USDA to more fully embrace CRP’s wildlife mission. CRP can do more to assure that each acre addresses the country’s truly important wildlife goals, particularly for at-risk birds, thereby helping the farming community address these concerns through this incentive-based program.

I have modified Rep. Kind’s alternative Farm bill language that improves a producer’s application for CRP enrollment when they agree to manage the land to enhance bird habitat. The language reads, “(2) WILDLIFE.—In considering the extent to which a contract offer will achieve the conservation purposes of the program related to wildlife habitat, the Secretary shall consider the extent to which the contract offer will contribute to increased populations of wildlife, including waterfowl, nongame grassland birds and neotropical migrants, and assist in the recovery of at-risk species.”

The CRP should avoid creating adverse environmental impacts by discouraging the planting of inappropriate vegetation (including invasive, exotic species!). An example of inappropriate vegetation could be planting trees in prairie areas that makes these areas inhospitable to grassland birds. Rep. Kind’s bill has also been modified to say, “…approved vegetative cover shall not include vegetative cover inappropriate to the locale.”

**The Kind bill also sets a 7 million acre non-binding goal for the enrollment and restoration of floodplains, wetlands, and other lands which are difficult to farm and which could provide significant environment benefits.