Conservation incentives offered

Farmers can profit from trees, grass

A federal farm program that takes cropland out of production still keeps it environmentally fruitful and financially rewarding to the producer by planting trees and grasses for 10-15 years.

That’s the crux of the Conservation Reserve Program, and the 45th general sign-up for DeSotoTate area begins May 20 and ends June 14.

“It continues to be our goal to ensure that the CRP program is used to address the nation’s critical resource issues” said Darryl Waller, Senatobia-based executive director of the DeSoto-Tate office of the FSA, a unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “We were informed last week that we would be holding a new CRP signup nationwide,” he said Friday.

“In recent years, many coun- ties in Mississippi experienced the worst drought in decades,” said Waller. “CRP protected environmentally sensitive lands from washing or blowing away, and provided extra grazing land when needed.”

He said he expects strong competition to enroll or re-enroll acres

into CRP, so he urges area producers and landowners “to maximize their environmental benefits and make sure their offers are cost-effective.”

In addition to erosion control, CRP provides significant water-quality benefits, including reduced nutrients and sediment loadings and adverse consequences linked to floods, as well as expanded and enhanced wildlife habitat.

Some 27 million acres are enrolled in CRP nationwide, and 782,207 acres are listed in Mississippi.

CRP is a voluntary program available to agricultural producers to help them safeguard environmentally sensitive land. Producers enrolled in CRP plant long-term, resource-conserving covers.

On Sept. 30, CRP contracts will expire on an estimated 3.3 million acres, with 65,171 of those in Mississippi.

“Producers with expiring contracts and producers with environmentally sensitive land are encouraged to evaluate their options under CRP,” said Waller.

Producers that are accepted in the sign-up can receive cost-share assistance for planting covers and receive an annual rental payment for the length of the contract.

To sign up or for more information on CRP and other Farm Service Agency programs, visit the DeSoto-Tate office at 502 N. Robinson St. in Senatobia, call 662-560-9001 Ext. 2, or go online at fsa.usda.gov.