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Open up the CRP?Livestock and food processors line up against environmental groups on the question of early outs By Sara Wyant Most of our sources say it's not a question of "if" but "when" the U.S. Department of Agriculture will take some action to open up Conservation Reserve Program acres to reduce some of the feed price pressures facing the livestock and poultry industries. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer has been holding his cards close to his vest, but recently said he would make a decision within the next couple of weeks. Contracts covering about 3.9 million acres are expected to expire Sept. 30, 2009. Providing a penalty free release of those acres yet this year is expected to boost grain production and replenish some stocks for next year. But the decision may not necessarily result in more corn production because most of those expiring contracts are located in what has traditionally been wheat country. The table below shows where CRP contracts will expire in 2009, within the top five states in terms of acreage. More than 130 groups who belong to the Alliance for Agricultural Growth and Competitiveness (AAGC) are pushing hard for more crop production in 2009. They called on Schafer recently to immediately allow penalty-free, early release of non-environmentally sensitive cropland from the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The AAGC is an organization of national and state organizations representing a broad cross-section of meat, livestock and poultry production, agricultural input, and grain marketing, handling, processing and exporting interests. Pushing just as hard in the opposite direction: Environmental groups who want to see as much acreage idled in this long-term land retirement program as possible. The CRP is a favorite of wildlife and hunting groups for providing more than 30 million acres of habitat. Lawsuit halts earlier decision Environmental groups recently "muddied the waters" a bit by filing a lawsuit against USDA's previous decision to allow haying and grazing of up to 24 million CRP acres after the end of the primary nesting season. The nesting season ended July 1 in five states and will expire in mid-July for the central U.S. The primary nesting season for wildfowl ends August first in the Upper Midwest and Northern Plains. 
The National Wildlife Federation and state affiliates in Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, South Dakota and Washington convinced a judge that USDA did not comply with the law in making that decision and he granted a temporary restraining order to stop the action. They argued that the unprecedented wholesale release of lands for haying and grazing should be subject to review under the National Environmental Policy Act. A hearing is scheduled on July 17 . The restraining order does not affect emergency grazing of CRP acres, which is allowed in areas affected by drought and floods this spring, and subject to a different decision making process. Potential compromise? Conservation and wildlife groups are understandably anxious about Schafer's potential decision and fear that thousands of highly erodible acres could go back into row crop production. However, if USDA does allow early outs, there are some ways that the agency could potentially limit adverse impacts. In a letter to Schafer, Gov. Mike Rounds, R-SD, said: "I understand that U.S. agriculture is operating in a unique environment due to prolonged historical drought, recent flooding in the Midwest and new sources of increased demands for grain production. In the event that you decide to allow early, no penalty CRP contract terminations, I would like to offer the following...to minimize any unintended adverse impacts to our soil, water quality and wildlife habitat." --Limit the "early outs" to only contracts set to expire in 2009. --Do not allow early contract termination for the following types of contracts: --Contracts with an average Erodibility Index of 15 or greater; --Contracts that would allow early termination of wetlands acres; --Contracts that would allow early termination of field windbreaks or shelterbelts; --Contacts for bottomland hardwood continuous practice acres and any land within 100 feet of a stream or other permanent waterbodies. In addition, Rounds called for more enrollment in continuous CRP practices, to partially offset acres that may go back into production, and incentive payments for all continuous CRP practices. Editor's note: Columnist Sara Wyant is president of Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc. and publishes a bi-weekly newsletter, Agri-Pulse, on food and farm policy. For more information, you can e-mail her at Agripulse@aol.com. 7/21/08 Date: 7/17/08 Advertisement
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