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This change to the CRP program is just one of many that USDA
has implemented based on recommendations from the Land Tenure
Advisory Subcommittee formed by Agriculture Secretary Tom
Vilsack in 2015.
Normally if a landowner terminates a CRP contract early, they
are required to repay all previous payments plus interest. The
new policy waives this repayment if the land is transferred to a
beginning farmer or rancher through a sale or lease with an
option to buy. With CRP enrollment close to the
Congressionally-mandated cap of 24 million acres, the early
termination will also allow USDA to enroll other land with
higher conservation value elsewhere.
Acres terminated early from CRP under these land tenure
provisions will be eligible for priority enrollment
consideration into the CRP Grasslands, if eligible; or the
Conservation Stewardship Program or Environmental Quality
Incentives Program, as determined by the Natural Resources
Conservation Service.
According to the Tenure, Ownership and Transition of
Agricultural Land survey, conducted by USDA in 2014, U.S.
farmland owners expect to transfer 93 million acres to new
ownership during 2015-2019. This represents 10 percent of all
farmland across the nation. Details on the early termination
opportunity will be available starting on Jan. 9, 2017, at local
USDA service centers. For more information about CRP and to find
out if your acreage is eligible for early contract termination,
contact your local Farm Service Agency (FSA) office or go online
at www.fsa.usda.gov/crp. To locate your local FSA office, visit
http://offices.usda.gov.
Questions?
Please contact your local County FSA Office with any questions
you may have regarding this message.
[USDA Farm Service Agency]
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