Annual rental payments are provided to participants on lands enrolled in CRP. Rental rates are based on the relative productivity of the soils and the average dry-land cash rent or cash rent equivalent. Financial assistance is provided to participants who establish approved cover on eligible cropland and marginal pastureland. The financial assistance can be no more than 50 percent of the participant's cost to establish approved practices. Financial incentives of up to 20 percent of the soil rental rate for field windbreaks, grass waterways, filter strips, and riparian buffers. FSA also offers participants an up-front signing incentive payment (SIP) up to $100 per acre for eligible participants who enroll certain practices. The one-time SIP will be made after the contract is approved and all payment eligibility criteria are met; and a practice incentive payment (PIP) equal to 40 percent of the eligible installation costs for eligible participants who enroll certain practices. The one-time PIP will be issued after the practice is installed, eligible costs are verified, and other payment eligibility criteria are met.
The Scioto CREP is still active in Madison County, which provides nearly double the rental payment under CRP as described above.
The Conservation Security Program (CSP) is a voluntary program that supports ongoing stewardship of private agricultural lands by providing payments for maintaining and enhancing natural resources. CSP identifies and rewards those farmers and ranchers who are meeting the highest standards of conservation and environmental management on their operations.
CSP provides financial and technical assistance to promote the conservation and improvement of soil, water, air, energy, plant and animal life, and other conservation purposes on private working lands. Working lands include cropland, grassland, prairie land, and improved pasture, as well as forested land that is an incidental part of an agriculture operation.
The CSP sign-up may be offered nationwide this fall. Producers complete a self-assessment, including description of conservation activities on their operations, to help determine eligibility for CSP. The self-assessment is available from: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/csp and in NRCS state offices on compact disk or as a printed workbook. Further guidance will be provided upon final completion of the new Farm Bill rules.
The Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) is a voluntary program. It provides technical and financial assistance to eligible landowners to address wetland, wildlife habitat, soil, water, and related natural resource concerns on private lands in an environmentally beneficial and cost-effective manner. The program provides an opportunity for landowners to receive financial incentives to restore, protect, and enhance wetlands in exchange for retiring marginal land from agriculture.
The program offers a Permanent Easement which is a conservation easement in perpetuity; a 30-Year Easement, which provides payments at 75 percent of what would be paid for a permanent easement; and a Restoration Financial Agreement; which is an agreement (generally for a minimum of 10 years) to re-establish degraded or lost wetland habitat. USDA pays up to 75 percent of the cost of the restoration activity. This enrollment option does not place an easement on the property. For both permanent and 30-year easements, USDA pays all costs associated with recording the easement in the local land records office, including recording fees, charges for abstracts, survey and appraisal fees, and title insurance.
EQIP offers financial and technical help to assist eligible participants install or implement structural and management practices on eligible agricultural land, such as fencing, watering facilities, concrete pads for livestock and chemical mixing, soil grid sampling, animal waste storage systems, and so forth. Persons who are engaged in livestock or agricultural production on eligible land may participate in the EQIP program.
Incentive payments may be provided for up to three years to encourage producers to carry out management practices they may not otherwise use without the incentive. However, limited resource producers and beginning farmers and ranchers may be eligible for greater levels of financial aide.
The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) is a program for people who want to voluntarily develop and enhance wildlife habitat on primarily private land. Technical assistance and up to 75% cost share assistance is offered through the NRCS to encourage people to improve the fish and wildlife habitats of their area. This may include establishing new practices, or replacing practices that fail for reasons beyond the landowners control.
The following are types of lands that are NOT eligible for WHIP; Federal Land, Land that is currently a part of the Water Bank Program, Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), or other such programs, land subject to Emergency Watershed Protection Program floodplain easement, or land that is determined to be unlikely to succeed at establishing these improvements. Also, land that is determined to be converted wetland, or that which can not be used for mitigation, is not eligible. All other lands should be eligible. Those persons who have control over, or own the land that is being considered are eligible.
The NRCS will help the participant establish a plan, which will describe the participant's goals for improving wildlife habitat. It will include a list of practices and a schedule for installing them. Also included will be details on the steps necessary to maintain the habitat for the extent of the agreement. This plan can, but is not required to, be a part of a larger conservation plan for the area. Please contact David Ferguson, NRCS District Conservationist if you’re interested in enrolling your ground WHIP (740) 852-4004, or email
The Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP) is a voluntary program that assists farmers and ranchers keep their land in agriculture. The program provides matching funds to State, Tribal, or local governments and non-governmental organizations with existing farm and ranch land protection programs to purchase conservation easements.
