USDA Sets CRP Sign-Up

Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced recently that U.S. producers will be able to submit bids to place land under the Conservation Reserve Program from May 5 to May 30.

Under the provisions of the 2002 Farm Bill, the CRP, which was previously limited to 36.4 million acres, can hold up to 39.2 million acres. Nearly 34 million acres enrolled in the CRP for 2002. Contracts will expire on 1.59 million acres this year.

Veneman said USDA was reserving 2 million acres in the CRP for continuous enrollment of buffer strips, wetland restoration work, shelterbelts and wildlife habitat. Of that, 500,000 acres will be held for projects that plant hardwood trees on bottomland.

Editors note: Richard Brock, The Corn and Soybean Digest's Marketing Editor, is president of Brock Associates, a farm market advisory firm, and publisher of The Brock Report.

To see more market perspectives, visit Brock's Web site at www.brockreport.com.