Northern Ag to hold workshop on expiring CRP

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and its partners will host a workshop March 8 at the Northern Agricultural Research Center to help landowners figure out what to do with their expiring Conservation Reserve Program acres.

Farm Service Agency Hill County Office Executive Director Les Rispens said Friday about 6,000 CRP acres in Hill County are expiring this year. Residents in neighboring counties have more acres expiring than Hill County residents, he added.

During the workshop, discussions will center on the options and considerations associated with CRP enrollment, returning to cropping, livestock production, wildlife conservation and conservation easements.

One of the topics discussed will be transition incentives, programs that will give owners more CRP benefits if they let a veteran or a beginning farmer use their land for farming. Another topic is ways to bring land back into production after CRP.

NRCS will also have a representative at the workshop.

Low commodity prices have been reason for land to stay in CRP, and it’s the reason the FSA is close to the 24-milliion acre nationwide cap of CRP acres, Rispens said. And while some acres come out of CRP, others will go into it.

Rispens said commodity prices are most likely not going to rise any time soon.

The event which runs 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 8 at the research center is free, but folks are asked to RSVP because organizers need to know how much food to prepare.