Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is suggesting there could be interest in overhauling the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Reserve Program, more commonly known as CRP. The voluntary program was first instituted in the 1985 Farm Bill under the Reagan Administration in an effort to prevent soil erosion, improve water quality, and expand wildlife habitats. In its first full year of implementation, CRP had just over 15 million acres enrolled. It peaked at nearly 37 million acres in 2007 before settling at around 25 million acres in recent years. Ernst says CRP has become overused and not in the way Congress originally intended.
Ernst says most of the Senate’s focus right now is on budget reconciliation, so there haven’t been significant talks in the Agriculture Committee about where CRP could change. However, one idea that has been floated in the past and may have support in future legislation is grazing restrictions.
Ernst adds she’d like to see limitations on how much of an individual farm can be enrolled in CRP.
Those discussions are unlikely to take place in Washington, D.C., until after July 4, which is the self-imposed deadline for the Senate to move the budget reconciliation bill through the upper chamber. Sen. Ernst made her comments on Tuesday during a roundtable with pork and cattle producers in Carroll. The current Farm Bill was last approved in 2018 and has been extended multiple times due to Congress’ inability to move a renewal through.
