About the Conservation Reserve Program

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) was first established by the Food SecurityAct of 1985 (also known as the 1985 Farm Bill). CRP was originally created to provide farmers a financial incentive (primarily consisting of a rental payment) to set aside environmentally sensitive farmland from production to provide conservation benefits such as improved water quality, improved soil health, and wildlife habitat. New types of CRP signup have been added alongside the General signup created in 1985, with Continuous signup being established in1996 and Grassland CRP being established in 2014. While General signup allows signup only during official signup periods, Continuous CRP allows noncompetitive signup at any time and includes several initiatives related to specific conservation priorities. Likewise, while General and Continuous signups focus on enrolling cropland, Grassland CRP focuses on competitive signup of pasturelands, rangelands, and other grasslands. In competitive signups, offers submitted by potential participants are ranked according to their expected benefits and the ones with the highest benefits are selected, while noncompetitive signups are administered on a first-come, first-serve basis. The wide variety of practices and signup types currently available provide many opportunities for CRP participants to find the combination that works best for them.