Acreage rented for an average of $79.33 per month

Forty-three tracts of farm ground in Whitman County were accepted into the USDA’s conservation reserve program, or CRP, during last month’s general sign-up.

Those contracts totaled more than 5,792 acres of land, according to Kathy Wolfe, executive director of the county’s Farm Service Agency office.

USDA officials approved every contract offered in the county. Wolfe said one landowner has decided not to accept the USDA’s contract, withdrawing 230.5 acres to bring the total of general CRP enrollment down to 5,561.7.

The general CRP program is for enrollment of large tracts of land for conservat...