Each year millions of ducks are produced onConservation Reserve Program grasslands.

Habitat losses mount in Prairie Pothole Region

With millions of acres of marginal cropland being removed from the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to get down the maximum acreage cap set by the 2008 Farm Bill, the outlook for ducks and landowners is unclear. More than 1.3 million acres of CRP land has left the program in the Prairie Pothole Region alone, an area that once added more than 2.2 million ducks to the fall migration every year from CRP lands alone.

The cumulative impacts of grassland loss in the Prairie Pothole Region, both CRP and native prairie, at this magnitude, will eventually have significant impacts on waterfowl populations and the number of ducks that hunters see in their decoy spreads. In 2012 alone, North Dakota will lose more than 846,000 acres of CRP.

Nationwide, some 2.7 million acres of CRP, freed from contracts, are already being converted to farmland. Enough acres exited the program this year to fall below the nationwide enrollment cap, which was reduced from 39.2 million acres to 32 million acres in the 2008 Farm Bill.

Here's a look at the states where the most land is being released from the federal Conservation Reserve Program:

_ Texas, 3.85 million acres active; 644,025 acres expire in 2009; 698,313 expire in 2010; 683,991 expire in 2011

_ Montana, 3.2 million acres active; 245,925 acres expire in 2009; 410,487 expire in 2010; 497,236 expire in 2011

_ Kansas, 3.1 million acres active; 339,527 acres expire in 2009; 617,687 expire in 2010; 532,555 expire in 2011

_ North Dakota, 2.86 million acres active; 212,294 expire in 2009; 261,409 expire in 2010; 388.974 expire in 2011

_ Colorado, 2.41 million acres active; 434,060 acres expire in 2009; 464,062 expire in 2010; 346,132 expire in 2011

_ Iowa, 1.69 million acres active; 191,813 acres expire in 2009; 171,954 expire in 2010; 72,249 expire in 2011

_ Minnesota, 1.67 million acres active; 166,519 expire in 2009; 80,259 expire in 2010; 128,018 expire in 2011

_ Washington, 1.51 million acres active; 124,602 expire in 2009; 209,072 expire in 2010; 89,167 expire in 2011

_ Missouri, 1.4 million acres active; 45,398 expire in 2009; 152,701 expire in 2010; 197,535 expire in 2011

_ South Dakota, 1.2 million acres active; 202,152 expire in 2009; 151,761 expire in 2010; 125,612 expire in 2011

_ Nebraska, 1.18 million acres active; 134,338 acres expire in 2009; 187,552 expire in 2010; 151,482 expire in 2011

_ Illinois, 1 million acres active; 60,704 expire in 2009; 78,793 expire in 2010; 68,705 expire in 2011

_ Oklahoma, 960,839 acres active; 110,435 acres expire in 2009; 210,884 expire in 2010; 191,787 expire in 2011

_ United States, 33.65 million acres active; 3.41 million expire in 2009; 4.75 million expire in 2010; 4.42 million expire in 2011

The USDA is currently in the process of conducting a CRP Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, which is expected to be completed sometime during the fall of 2010. A general CRP sign-up cannot be held until the impact statement is completed.

Check Out:

Learn more about CRP losses

Learn more about CRP and other farm programs that affect waterfowl

DU warns of CRP loss effects