USDA will open a general Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) signup December 9 through February 28, 2020.
At the end of October, there were 21.967 million acres in the CRP, including contracts that were to expire September 30 but were given a one-year extension. Contracts on around 970,000 acres were extended, about 81 percent of acres that were eligible to be in the program for another year.
Continuous CRP signup in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 enrolled about 245,000 acres.
USDA also pledged that the general signups will be held annually. That has not been the case for several years as acres enrolled in the program were very close to the maximum level allowed via the 2014 Farm Bill.
Under the 2018 Farm Bill, the CRP acreage cap is increased from the current cap of 24 million acres in FY 2019, to 24.5 million in FY 2020, 25 million in FY 2021, 25.5 million in FY 2022 and 27 million in FY 2023.
The decision to hold annual general signups reflects the level of CRP contracts that will expire ahead. There are contracts on 5.36 million acres set to mature September 30, 2020.
That could allow for a very robust general signup given the current level of CRP acres and the contracts maturing in September 2020.
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