Release No. 1488.00

Dann Stuart (202) 690-0474
Dan_Stuart@wdc.fsa.usda.gov

The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) is a Federal-State conservation partnership program that targets significant environmental effects related to agriculture. It is a voluntary program that uses financial incentives to encourage farmers and ranchers to enroll in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) in contracts of 10 to 15 years in duration to remove land from agricultural production.

The Ohio Lake Erie CREP is a special conservation program tailored to meet the needs of the State. This voluntary program is designed to improve the water quality of Lake Erie and many of the streams and rivers that feed into it.

The Ohio Lake Erie CREP has been designed to:

• reduce the amount of sediment entering Western Lake Erie by over 2,325,000 metric tons over the next 20 years;
• significantly reduce the amount of nutrients and pesticides that enter Western Lake Erie and its tributaries;
• protect over 5,000 linear miles of streams from sedimentation; and
• improve wildlife habitat in the project.

The program area is comprised of the Western Lake Erie Watershed Area.

CREP will provide a number of significant environmental benefits to Ohio’s water bodies. Filter strips and riparian buffers will be planted next to streams, rivers, and drainage ditches in order to prevent sediment and pollutants from entering the water bodies. An estimated 5,000 linear miles of streams will be protected. Improved water quality will result from reduced nutrient loading, sediment loading and pesticide runoff. Forested buffers will also help lower water temperatures and enhance wildlife habitat.

• Hardwood Tree Planting
• Wildlife Habitat Improvement
• Filter Strips
• Riparian Buffers
• Wetland Restoration
• Field Windbreaks

Enrollment for the Ohio Lake Erie CREP will be on a continuous basis beginning May 1, 2000. Eligible land must be within the project area and meet the basic eligibility criteria for the CRP. Land must be either cropland or marginal pastureland. Cropland must have been planted to crops two of the past five years and be physically and legally capable of being cropped. Marginal pastureland can be enrolled provided it is suitable for use as a riparian buffer planted to trees. Lands that have an existing CRP contract or an approved offer with a contract pending are not eligible for CREP until that contract expires.

CREP participants are eligible for five types of payments: base annual rental payments; incentive payments; maintenance payments; cost-share assistance payments; and State lump sum one-time payments. Annual rental payments will be based on the soil rental rate. The first three of these will be combined into a consolidated annual CRP rental payment.

In addition to the normal cropland rental payment, the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) will make a special incentive payment as follows:

• for land devoted to filter strips, 55 percent of the normal cropland rental rate; and
• for land devoted to wetland restoration, riparian buffer, field windbreak, wildlife habitat improvement or hardwood trees, 75 percent of the normal cropland rental rate.

Producers would also receive an annual maintenance payment of $5 per acre.

For example: If the normal cropland rental rate is $100 per acre, the incentive rate for a riparian buffer would be 75 percent of 100 or $75 per acre. In addition, the maintenance rate would be $5 per acre. The total annual payment would be $5 per acre maintenance rate, for a total of $180 per acre.

The CCC pays up to 50 percent of the establishment cost of conservation practices. The State may also provide up to $40 per acre for the planting of warm season grasses.

The State also provides a one-time lump sum payment of $200 per acre for land devoted to filter-strips and a $500 per acre lump sum payment for land devoted to hardwood tree planting, wildlife habitat improvement, field windbreaks, wetland restoration, and riparian buffers.

9.   Who can Sign Up for the Ohio Lake Erie CREP and When?

Enrollment for the CREP will be on a continuous basis beginning May 1, 2000. Eligible land must be within the project area and meet the basic eligibility criteria for the CRP. Land must be either cropland or marginal pastureland as defined under normal CRP operating procedures.

The estimated cost of the program is $201 million. The Federal share is $167 million and the State share is $34 million.

People wanting more information should contact the Farm Service Agency (FSA) or the Natural Resources Conservation Service within their local U.S. Department of Agriculture Service Center, or the local Soil and Water Conservation District Office.

Information may also be obtained from the FSA web site at: www.fsa.usda.gov

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