Conservation Reserve Program

Date: 7/07
Position Number: V-D-3
Expires: 3/08

Resolution/Position:

1. Support enrollment into and renewal of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) contracts targeted to the most environmentally sensitive land, such as:
   1. Field borders, large waterways, filter and buffer strips and other areas needed for conservation compliance. If areas above are included, then grazing would be allowed during non-growing seasons. These targeted areas should be allowed to be managed in such a manner that would not disrupt the normal management of the entire field.
   2. Other land that has a Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Erodibility Index (EI) using a weighted average of 8 or greater.
   3. Other land that affects water quality.
2. Oppose permanent easements.
3. USDA to ensure that payments for whole field enrollments do not exceed county average rental rates for similar land capability classes.
4. Urge that CRP rental rates should not be inflated to keep non-environmentally sensitive land in the
   CRP program.
5. Urge Secretary of Agriculture to allow individual states to start on conservation work prior to the land coming out of the CRP Program.
6. Support full utilization of the Conservation Reserve Program. In addition, NCGA recommends that continuous enrollment acres be fully supported and removed from the existing acreage cap.
7. Promote and support the voluntary enrollment of filter strips under the continuous enrollment provision of CRP.
8. Established waterways and turn rows should be allowed to enter the CRP buffer and filter strip program.
9. Support the rights of farmers to bring land back into production at the end of their CRP contract. Encourage utilization of sound conservation practices as land is returned to production.
10. Support allowing mechanically harvested hay crops as an acceptable rotation crop for CRP eligibility.