For Immediate Release: Feb. 19, 2013

Media Contact:

Jennifer Cole

Montana USDA Farm Service Agency

(406) 587-6786

BOZEMAN, Mont., Feb. 19, 2013 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced on Feb. 16th that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) will conduct a four-week general sign-up for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), beginning May 20 and ending on June 14, Montana FSA State Executive Director Bruce Nelson said today.

Montana currently has 11,140 contracts on more than 2 million acres enrolled in CRP making it the fourth largest CRP state in the United States. In 2012, Montana CRP participants received more than $91.7 million dollars. Approximately 366,000 of those acres will expire on Sept. 30, 2013.

"Since the 1980s, the CRP program has established itself as a benchmark in voluntary conservation efforts, providing American producers with assets to address our most critical resource issues," Vilsack said. "Last year, during one of the worst droughts in generations, the CRP proved vital in protecting our most environmentally sensitive lands from erosion. Emergency haying and grazing on CRP lands also supplied critical feed and forage for livestock producers due to the drought. And the program continues to bring substantial returns to rural areas, attracting recreation and tourism dollars into local economies while sustaining natural and wildlife habitat for future generations."

Additional sign-ups for continuous CRP programs - such as the State Acres for Wildlife (SAFE), Highly Erodible Land Initiative and Initiative to Restore Grasslands, Wetlands and Wildlife - will be announced in spring 2013. Montana has received an allocation of an additional 11,900 acres for enrollment in the Prairie Pothole, Pheasants Winter Cover, and Sagebrush SAFE areas. The area eligible for enrollment in the Montana Sagebrush SAFE program has been expanded from its original counties of Carter, Fallon, and Powder River, to also include Beaverhead, Big Horn, Carbon, Fergus, Garfield, Golden Valley, Madison, Musselshell, Petroleum, Rosebud and Treasure counties. An announcement will be made when FSA county offices in Montana can begin accepting offers for the continuous CRP program.

Currently, about 27 million acres are enrolled nationwide in CRP, which is a voluntary program available to agricultural producers to help them safeguard environmentally sensitive land. Producers enrolled in CRP plant long-term, resource-conserving covers to improve the quality of water, control soil erosion and enhance wildlife habitat. Producers with expiring contracts or producers with environmentally sensitive land are encouraged to evaluate their options under CRP.

Producers that are accepted in the sign-up can receive cost-share assistance to plant long-term, resource-conserving covers and receive an annual rental payment for the length of the contract (10-15 years). Producers also are encouraged to look into CRP's other enrollment opportunities offered on a continuous, non-competitive, sign-up basis and that often provide additional financial assistance. Continuous sign-up dates will be announced at a later date.

For more information on CRP and other FSA programs, visit a local FSA service center or www.fsa.usda.gov/mt.