USDA offers incentives to farmers willing to install buffers

The incentives are enhancements in USDA's new sign-up period 22 for the continuous sign-up of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The program is designed to protect more environmentally sensitive land. The incentives include:

1. An up-front signing bonus incentive of $10 per acre for every full year the contract covers. This amounts to $100 to $150 per acre at the start of the contract to help defray up-front installation costs for filter strips, riparian buffers, grassed waterways, field windbreaks, shelterbelts and living snowfences.

2. A payment incentive equal to 40% of the practice installation cost of all continuous CRP practices. This is in addition to the 50% cost-share paid by USDA for establishing certain approved practices.

3. Increases in maintenance rate incentives for certain practices involving tree-planting, fencing or water development. Updated marginal pastureland rental rates nationwide to better reflect the market value of these lands.

4. An increase of 20% on the average widths of filter strips and riparian buffers to allow farmers to square off field and buffer boundaries for more efficient farming.

This sign-up period will continue through Sep. 30.

Conservation buffers protect streams and rivers by keeping sediment and nutrients from entering the water, providing cleaner drinking water, enhancing recreation and improving wildlife habitat. Landowners with questions and interest should contact their local NRCS or FSA office, at their USDA service center. More details on the new buffer rules are available on the Internet, at http://fb-net.org/ccrp/.