NGFA Urges Senate to Reform CRP While Drafting New Farm Bill

• Mandate that USDA permit penalty-free early outs of Land Classes 1, 2 and 3 enrolled in CRP, provided that producers doing so are required to implement prudent conservation practices on such lands.

• Restrict whole-field and whole-farm enrollments by subjecting such land to a more stringent environmental benefits index (EBI) scoring threshold than partial-field enrollments.

The NGFA also encouraged Congress to include, as part of the farm bill process, language that would provide the following guidance to USDA in its implementation and administration of the CRP program in the future:  1) Freeze CRP rental rates for three to five years or implement a percentage-based limit on rental rates paid for CRP land compared to average county rental rates so young and beginning farmers are not forced to compete against the government for acres; and 2) limit the number of CRP general sign-ups offered.