Conservation Reserve Program - Grasslands (CRP Grasslands)

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Grasslands is part of the CRP program, a federally funded voluntary program that contracts with agricultural producers so that environmentally sensitive agricultural land is not farmed or ranched, but instead used for conservation benefits. FSA provides participants with rental payments and cost-share assistance. Contract duration is between 14 and 15 years. CRP Grasslands helps landowners and operators protect grassland, including rangeland, and pastureland, and certain other lands, while maintaining the areas as grazing lands.

The program emphasizes support for grazing operations, plant and animal biodiversity, and grassland and land containing shrubs and forbs under the greatest threat of conversion. CRP Grasslands is reauthorized by the 2018 Farm Bill.

Eligible Producers

A producer must have owned or operated the land for at least 12 months prior to closing the CRP enrollment period, unless:

• The new owner acquired the land due to the previous owner’s death;

• The ownership change occurred due to foreclosure where the owner exercised a timely right of redemption in accordance with state law; or

• The circumstances of the acquisition present adequate assurance to FSA that the new owner did not acquire the land for the purpose of placing it in CRP.

Eligible Land

Land currently must be planted to a grass cover.

FSA provides CRP participants with annual rental payments, as well as certain incentive payments and costshare assistance.

In return for establishing long-term, resource-conserving covers, FSA provides annual rental payments to participants. FSA bases rental rates on the relative productivity of the soils within each county and the average cash rent using data provided by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). The soil rental rates are subject to an 85 percent proration for general signup and a 90 percent proration for continuous signup. The maximum CRP rental rate for each offer is calculated in advance of enrollment. Producers may offer land at that rate or offer a lower rental rate.

CRP grasslands rates are based on 75 percent of the NASS pasture rate.

Contact your local FSA office to apply.

• CRP fact sheet

• CRP Grasslands Signup Factsheet

• CRP Grasslands Signup Ranking Factors