Montana agricultural producer Steve Carney produces spring wheat and durum on 6,000 acres in northeastern Montana. Steve has enrolled 2,500 acres of his land in CRP to increase the efficiency of his farming operation and to enhance wildlife habitat. Most of the Carney's CRP acreage is on land characterized as highly erodible sandy soil.

Steve believes participating in CRP has been a win-win partnership and is not causing the demise of rural America as some have speculated. For Steve, as for many other producers in Montana and across America, enrollment in CRP has allowed him to take marginal lands out of production. This prevents further erosion. At the same time, CRP provides Steve and other participants with an additional income source that stabilizes their cash flow and allows them to keep farming.

Steve and Diane Carney survey a few of their 2,500 acres enrolled in CRP.

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