FARM SERVICE AGENCY

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FARM SERVICE AGENCY

• Conservation Reserve Program

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OVERVIEW

• Goals
• History
• Agencies involved with CRP
• Eligibility Criteria
• Compliance Eligibility Roles
• Getting ready for next signup
• Where we are today

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CRP GOALS

• Conserve and improve our nations natural
  resource base
• Protect soil, water, and wildlife resources
• Improve and preserve water quality
• Enhance fish and wildlife habitat
• Increase enrollment in high priority continuous
  practices

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CRP HISTORY

• Conceived originally as a Land Idling, Acreage
  Reduction, Soil Conservation Program
• Concept began during the Soil Bank ERA
• Re-established by Congress in 1985
• Now, the nations largest, premier program for
  protecting natural resources and enhancing our
  environment
• Offers annual rental payments and cost-share
  assistance to eligible producers that establish
  perennial covers to
• - reduce soil erosion
• - improve water quality
• - enhance wildlife habitat

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AGENCIES INVOLVED WITH CRP

• State and Federal Agencies
• Kansas Conservation Commission
• Conservation Districts
• Forest Service
• Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS)

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FSA/NRCS ROLE IN CRP

• FSA has administrative responsibility for CRP
• State Committee supervises the county committee
• County Committee supervises county offices of day
  to day operations
• NRCS provides technical support for CRP
• Conservation planning
• Technical specifications for practice
  installation
• Evaluating soil payment rates
• Cost-Share policies
• And other requirements

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RESPONSIBILITIES OF OTHER AGENCIES

• Technical Support Provider (TSP) assist county
  offices in technical aspects such as
• Identifying soil types for calculating maximum
  payment rates for continuous signup
• Developing and certifying an approved
  conservation plan
• Forest Service through the TSP develops the tree
  planting plans
• Conservation Districts approve conservation plans
• Conservation Commission
• Extension Service Information Education

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OVERVIEW ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

• Producer Eligibility
• Land Eligibility
• Practice Eligibility

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PRODUCER ELIGIBILITY

• General
• Own land 12 months before the close of signup for
  general signup offers
• Acquired the land by will or succession
• Acquired the land under circumstances other than
  for placement in CRP, as determined by DAFP

• Continuous
• Producer eligibility requirements are the same as
  general
• Owned land for 12 months before submitting the
  offer

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LAND ELIGIBILITYCROPLAND

• General
• Planted or considered planted to an agricultural
  commodity during 4 of the 6 crop years from 1996
  through 2001
• Physically legally capable of being planted in
  a normal manner to an agricultural commodity, as
  determined by COC

• Continuous
• Has to meet the general requirements
• Exception The land that is enrolled in CRP as
  marginal pastureland does not have to meet the
  definition of cropland

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LAND ELIGIBILITY Cont.

• General
• Erodibility
• Expiring CRP
• Conservation Priority Areas (CPA)
• WBP Acres

• Continuous
• Practice offered is eligible practice for
  continuous
• Practice and acreage offered meet the program
  policy and size requirements for the practice

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PRACTICE ELIGIBILITY-General and Continuous
Signups-

• It must meet the purpose for the practice spelled
  out in the practice specifications
• Example CP21 Filter Strips the purpose for this
  practice is to remove nutrients, sediment,
  organic matter, pesticides, and other pollutants
  from surface runoff and subsurface flow.
• Installing this practice in situations where the
  balance of the field is seeded to perennial cover
  would not meet the purpose of
  this practice.

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COMPLIANCE ELIGIBILITY ROLES

• Complianceagree to terms and conditions of
  contracts
• Eligibility requirements must be met in order to
  qualify for U.S.D.A. programs

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COMPLIANCE ELIGIBILITY ROLES Cont.

• Eligibility requirements include
• Adjusted gross income
• Payment Limitation
• Person determination
• Actively engaged determination
• Conservation Compliance
• Highly Erodable Land Compliance (HELC)
• Wetland Compliance (WC)
• All other programs

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GETTING READY FOR NEXT GENERAL SIGNUP

• The next sign up will be in 2004
• CPA Review
• County cropland limitation
• Soil rental rate review

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ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS INDEX

• Applies only to General Signups
• Offers for CRP sign-up 29 will be ranked
  according to the Environmental Benefits Index
  (EBI)
• FSA collects data for each of the EBI factors
  based on the relative environmental benefits for
  the land offered
• EBI rankings are unique for each piece of ground
  offered into CRP
• Each offer is assigned a point score based on its
  relative environmental factors and competes with
  all other offers

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ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS INDEX Cont.

• EBI factors
• Wildlife
• Water Quality
• Erosion
• Enduring Benefits
• Air Quality
• Cost

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CCRP SIGNUP

• ContinuousSignup 28Began 10/1/03
• High Priority Practicessmall acreage
• --significant
  Environmental
• Benefits
• Water Quality
• IncentivesSIP, PIP, 20-10
• Partner with governors Water Quality Initiative
  bufferKS Conservation Commission

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CCRP STATUSKANSAS TOTALS

• Continuous Grass Buffer Strips 5,074 acres
• Filter Strip Buffers 22,088
  acres
• Riparian Buffers 4,329
  acres
• Grass Waterways 6,617
  acres

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WHERE WE ARE TODAYIN KANSAS

• There are currently
• 2,842,179.5 acres enrolled
• 40,569 contracts
• Practices
• General Signup CP1 CP2
• More more focus on continuous signup

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Any Questions?