CRP. If you put an O in the middle you get crop. But then you can’t participate in CRP. What am I mumbling about? I’m David Sparks and I’ll tell you in a minute.

The USDA is willing to pay top dollar for conservation efforts on the part of landowners who happen to be farmers. It’s the CRP or Conservation Reserve Program wherein the federal government is offering to pay landowners up to 70 percent more than in previous years to put agricultural land into a federal conservation program. Lance Phillips, executive director of the FSA’s Twin Falls County office gives an example in which the Salmon Tract south of Twin Falls could see rates as high as $53 to $69 per acre. That’s significantly higher than what was offered during the last sign up which was $18 per acre.  Here’s executive director of the FSA’s Boise office, Dick Rush who says the CRP program’s a little stickier than before: “They’ve tightened the rules this year under the 2008 Farm Bill to make it even more of a conservation program. It has to be highly erodable land, there have to be other factors loaded in like wildlife benefits.” Speaking of which, CRP land has been great for hunters over the years. I’ll never forget a wild pheasant hunt that I enjoyed on CRP land in South Dakota…so CRP is OK by me.