ARCHIVED
August 2010
Overview
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the state of Indiana have expanded the existing Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP).
First announced in 2005, the Indiana CREP originally targeted enrollment of up to 7,000 acres of eligible land within three watersheds touching 29 counties. The program has now expanded into 11 total watersheds touching 65 counties, with a total acreage enrollment goal of 26,250 acres.
CREP is a federal/state natural resource conservation program. Its purpose is to address water quality and wildlife issues by reducing sediment and nutrient runoff and enhancing wildlife habitats. Through CREP, program participants receive financial incentives from FSA and the state of Indiana to voluntarily enroll in the program for up to 15 years.
Benefits
CREP is designed to help alleviate some of the concerns of high nonpoint source sediment, nutrient, pesticide and herbicide losses from agricultural lands by restoring buffers and wetlands to improve water quality.
Goals
The overall goals of the Indiana CREP are to provide producers in the state an opportunity to voluntarily restore riparian buffers and wetland areas through financial aid and technical assistance. These practices will assist in erosion control, sediment reduction, water retention, and nutrient uptake.
Specific goals include:
- Protecting a minimum of 3,000 linear miles of watercourses through the installation of buffer practices
- Reducing the amount of sediment, nutrients, and agricultural chemicals entering watercourses within the targeted watersheds by eight percent; and
Enrolling:
- 15 percent of eligible watershed cropland subject to normal CRP acreage limits by county;
- 8 percent of the CREP acres in voluntary, 10-year contract extensions in the Tippecanoe Watershed;
- 10 percent of the CREP enrolled acres in voluntary, permanent easements in the Tippecanoe Watershed and Upper White River Watershed; and,
- 26,250 acres of eligible cropland including frequently flooded agricultural lands and restorable wetlands.
Eligible Areas
The three watersheds eligible under the original Indiana CREP Agreement were:
Tippecanoe Upper White Pigeon-Highland
This CREP Addendum expansion adds eight watersheds, which now include:
Lower East Fork White Lower Wabash Lower White Middle Wabash-Busseron Middle Wabash-Deer Middle Wabash-Little Vermillion Upper East Fork White Upper Wabash
The original CREP project area included all or a portion of the following counties:
Benton | Boone | Carroll | Cass | Delaware |
|---|
Fulton | Gibson | Hamilton | Hancock | Hendricks |
|---|
Henry | Jasper | Kosciusko | Madison | Marion |
|---|
Marshall | Miami | Noble | Pike | Posey |
|---|
Pulaski | Randolph | Starke | Tippecanoe | Tipton |
|---|
Vanderburgh | Warrick | White | Whitley | |
|---|
The CREP expansion now includes all or a portion of the following additional counties:
Adams | Allen | Bartholomew | Brown | Clay |
|---|
Daviess | Decatur | Dubois | Fountain | Grant |
|---|
Greene | Howard | Huntington | Jackson | Jay |
|---|
Jennings | Johnson | Knox | Lawrence | Martin |
|---|
Monroe | Morgan | Montgomery | Noble | Owen |
|---|
Orange | Parke | Putnam | Rush | Shelby |
|---|
Sullivan | Vermillion | Vigo | Wabash | Wells |
|---|
Warrick | Washington | White | | |
|---|
Interested producers should contact their county FSA or Soil and Water Conservation Office for specific information regarding eligibility.
Conservation Practices
Specific conservation practices have been identified within this CREP project where, if established, will assist federal and state partners in meeting the CREP program goals for improving water quality by controlling erosion, reducing sediment, improving water retention, and nutrient uptake.
The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) practices offered for enrollment under the CREP are:
- CP-2 Permanent Native Grasses
- CP-3A Hardwood Tree Planting
- CP-4D Permanent Wildlife Habitat, Non-easement
- CP-23 Wetland Restoration
- CP-23A Wetland Restoration, Non-floodplain
- CP-31 Bottomland Timber Establishment
Sign –up and Eligibility Requirements
Enrollment will begin August 27, 2010. Cropland must meet CRP land eligibility criteria for enrollment.
CREP Payments
- Cost Share: 50 percent of eligible reimbursable practice establishment costs.
- Practice Incentive Payment: A one-time payment equal to 40 percent of the eligible installation costs for CP-21, CP-22, CP23, CP23A and CP-31.
- Signing Incentive Payment: A one-time payment of $100 per acre for CP-21, CP-22, CP23, CP23A and CP-31.
- Annual Rental Payment: Payment for normal maximum CRP weighted average soil rental rate for the three predominant soil types using the current posted applicable local soil rental rates for cropland offers. Marginal pastureland rates are calculated using applicable local marginal pasture land rental rates in accordance with FSA national CRP directives.
- Incentive payment of 40 percent of the base rental rate without regard to other incentive payments (“infeasible to farm” acres are not eligible for incentive payments).
- A maintenance incentive payment equal to the terms of FSA national CRP directives, if applicable.
In addition, Indiana will offer the following payments:
- A one-time Clean Water Indiana Incentive payment of $400 per acre for CP-3A, CP-22, and CP-31.
- A one-time Clean Water Indiana Incentive payment of $950 per acre for CP-23 and CP-23A.
- A one-time Clean Water Indiana Incentive payment of $100 per acre for CP-2, CP-4D, and CP-21.
- A one-time payment of $500 per acre to participants enrolled in State Permanent Easement in the Upper White River and Tippecanoe watersheds.
- One-time payment of $250 per acre to participants enrolled in a state program to extend the Federal CRP contract an additional 10 years within the Tippecanoe watershed.
Enrollment in CRP
Producers enrolled in the Indiana CREP may also be eligible to enroll in general and continuous CRP. CREP offers producers another option to voluntarily enroll and enhance their land under the CRP. CREP provides additional benefits not available through the general and/or continuous sign-up. How to Participate
Interested parties should contact their FSA office or their local Soil and Water Conservation District office. Additional information is also available on FSA’s Web site at www.fsa.usda.gov.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of Discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
|
|
|
|
