Hello Again!
On April 22, people all over the country reached out to celebrate Earth Day and thanked their local farmers, the original conservationists and stewards of the Earth.
America’s farmers play an important role in keeping the earth clean through the Farm Service Agency’s Conservation Reserve Program. CRP conserves soil, improves water and air quality and creates better wildlife habitat.
Farmers and ranchers not only spend their lives working the land, they work to let the land live on.
This year, USDA will conduct its 45th General CRP Sign-Up, a four-week sign-up, beginning May 20 and ending on June 14.
CRP has a 26-year legacy of successfully protecting the nation’s natural resources through voluntary participation, while providing significant economic and environmental benefits to rural communities across the United States.
Currently, about 30 million acres are enrolled in CRP. In Ohio there are 320,000 acres are enrolled in CRP. Producers who are accepted in the sign-up can receive cost-share assistance to plant long-term, resource-conserving covers and receive an annual rental payment for the length of the contract (10-15 years).
Contracts on approximately 55,000 acres of CRP in Ohio are set to expire on Sept. 30, 2013. Producers with expiring contracts or producers with environmentally sensitive land are encouraged to evaluate their options under CRP.
For more information on CRP, contact your local FSA office, or visit FSA’s website,
Also, please join USDA and FSA in our continuing efforts to celebrate Earth Day 2013, the Face of Climate Change! The Earth Day Network (EDN), works with over 22,000 partners in 192 countries and more than 1 billion people now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world.
That’s all for now, FSA Andy
