A CRP field being disked this past November northwest of Medina, ND.

Because of it importance I am reposting this blog originally posted on January 4th.

Acres’ coming out of CRP is nothing short of astounding

New federal figures show almost 420,000 acres of North Dakota Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) were converted to cropland in 2007. That’s more than 12 percent of all CRP acres in that state. The conservation community expected extensive losses, but this is about double what was anticipated for this year.

This steady stream of lost habitat will mean significantly lower production of ducks that migrate through or winter in all of the contiguous 48 states and provide and an important part of the hunters’ bags in those states. It will also impact pheasant populations and the local economies of the many small towns that hunters migrate to each fall in these prairie states.

Most of these losses can be traced back to strong commodity prices, driven by demand for corn and oilseeds for biofuel production and increasing world demand for commodities… especially from India and China. Unfortunately, with the new energy bill we don’t see things changing anytime soon.

Here is what our staff is reporting:

CRP Losses

US Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency statistics show 16 North Dakota counties have CRP losses greater than 15 percent. Stutsman County had the highest loss with 65.3 square miles. Grand Forks County has the highest percentage loss at almost 33 percent. Burleigh County has lost 39.3 square miles or almost 25 percent of all CRP acres.

DU staff in the Great Plains has also been tracking the increasing habitat loss in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) and provided the following for SD and MT to add to the ND numbers.

South Dakota has lost 214,314 acres (14.3%) of CRP since Sept. 30, 2007. Unlike ND, this is actually 58,037 acres less than what we had initially projected. FSA estimates that SD will have another 528,694 acres (35.1%) expiring from 2008-2010.

Montana has lost 159,961 acres (4.6%) of CRP since Sept. 30, 2007. This is actually 51,152 acres more than what we had initially projected. FSA estimates that MT will have another 906,669 acres (30%) expiring from 2008-2010.

One might ask whether these acres were being replaced by new sign-ups? The answer is no. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has not held a general sign-up for some time and will not likely in the near future. Some acres are being slowly added under the continuous signup program however these acres are small compared to the losses.

The number of CRP acres going back into crop production further emphasizes the need for a strong Sodsaver in the 2007 Farm Bill. When added to the losses of native grassland over the past 5 years the need for taking incentives away to crop these previously restored wildlife areas is painfully clear.

Native Prairie Losses

The Dakotas and Montana have lost 502,000 acres of native prairie since 2002.......63,868 acres in 2007 alone.

A strong Sodsaver provision in the Farm Bill would do this, depending on whether any teeth remain after the House and Senate bills come out of conference later this winter.

Check Out:

DU says CRP losses astounding

DU and the Farm Bill

Waterfowl Impacted by Senate's Farm Bill