Conservation Reserve Program General Signup Begins

Farmers interested in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) can sign up beginning January 4, 2021 through February 12, 2021. The goal of the program is to provide annual payments from land devoted to conservation purposes which benefits our entire ecosystem.
 

“This signup for the Conservation Reserve Program gives producers and landowners an opportunity to enroll for the first time or continue their participation for another term,” FSA Illinois State Executive Director, William Graff said.  “This program encourages conservation on sensitive lands or low-yielding acres, which provides tremendous benefits for stewardship of our natural resources and wildlife.”

The CRP program dates back to 1985 and is one of the largest private-lands conservation programs in the nation. Collectively the program has prevented more than 9 billion tons of soil from eroding, reduces nitrogen and phosphorus runoff and sequestered an annual average of 49 million tons of greenhouse gases equating 9 million cars taken off the road.

It is important to note new cropland offerend in the program must have been planted for four out of six crop years from 2012 to 2017. Farmers with land already enrolled but expiring this coming September can re-enroll this year. The acreage offered by farmers is evaluated competitively and results will be announced October 1, 2021.

Perhaps there are acres on your farm located on the side of a hill or in a creek bottom which frequently floods that would be perfect for this program. Find out more information.

Quality Loss Assistance Now Available
 

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced that signup for the Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) Program began January 6, 2021. Funded by the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, this new program provides assistance to farmers who suffered eligible crop quality losses due to natural disasters occuring in 2018 and 2019. The deadline to apply is March 5, 2021.

Those who suffered financial losses from the heavy rains in 2019 should especially take a look into this program.

Payments are based on formulas for the type of crop and loss documentation submitted. Based on the documentation FSA is calculating payments based on the farmer's own individual loss or based on the county average loss. Payments will be issued once the application period ends.

Contact your local USDA Service Center and check out the fact sheet below for more in depth information.

  QLA Fact Sheet