USDA accepts 4.3 million total acres in CRP signup

The United States Department of Agriculture last week announced it had approved contracts to put 4.3 million acres into the general Conservation Reserve Program, or CRP.

General CRP accounts are for enrollment of entire fields, while continuous CRP is used for targeted areas of particular high risk of environmental impact – areas like hilltops and stream beds.

Under CRP, landowners receive payments under long-term contracts to remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production.

The 2010 general CRP signup was the agency’s first since 2007.

In Washington, the USDA approved 1,136...