(DTN) Landowners and farmers will have a little less than a month starting next Monday to apply for enrollment in the general signup period for the Conservation Reserve Program.

USDA is looking to enroll more than 5 million acres, partially to push enrollment to the 32 million acres allowed under the 2008 Farm Bill while also making up for 4.5 million acres expected to expire from the program in September.

USDA announced on Monday details for the first general enrollment signup for the Conservation Reserve Program since 2006. Enrollment at local Farm Service Agency offices starts Monday, Aug. 2, and will end Friday, Aug. 27. Contracts will begin on Oct. 1, but USDA will give some allowances for farmers to complete harvest on enrolled tracts.

There are about 31 million acres enrolled in the various CRP programs -- general, continuous and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. But about 4.5 million acres in contracts are expected to expire in September, one of the largest potential acreage drops in the program's history. The biggest contract expirations would be in Colorado, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas. The general sign-up would ideally replace those acres and also push overall acreage back to the 32-million-acre level.

Though this is the first general signup in four years, USDA likely will be holding more general enrollments in the coming years if the department is trying to stay close to the 32-million-acre program cap. USDA reports show 4.4 million acres will expire in September 2011, and 6.5 million acres are slated to expire in 2012.

"With the general signup this fall, we are expecting we will be pretty close to that overall statutory cap," said Jim Miller, undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agriculture Services. "No decision has been made at this point in time as to how we will deal with acres that may be expiring in future years. It is an issue that we will certainly be taking a hard look at as we move forward, but right now, we are focused on ensuring producers have an opportunity to enroll at this general signup."

Miller added that landowners for the 4.5 million acres expiring from the program also can reapply for those acres to be considered for the program.

For other land to be eligible for CRP, it has to have been farmed for crops in four of six years between 2002 and 2007, USDA officials said. For first-time participants or newly-acquired land, owners will need to provide proof of ownership on the property. Leaseholders wanting to enroll land also have to show proof that the land would be under lease the entire time of a potential CRP contract. CRP is generally a 10-year contract.



Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack initially announced such a signup at a hunting expo in late February, but the Farm Service Agency was required to finish an environmental impact statement on the enrollment before signup could occur.

USDA also has stated that because of funding issues, USDA wants to target CRP acres to areas that would reduce runoff of farm chemicals into waterways.

The program has helped reduce soil erosion by 44 percent since its creation, but 1.7 billion tons of soil are still lost to wind and water erosion annually.

Right now, the average national rental payment is about $53 an acre, but that figure also swings widely depending on individual state and average crop rental rates. Farm Service Agency Administrator Jonathan Coppess said USDA is looking at rental rates, but has not made any changes to increase overall rates. CRP payments also are made in arrears, meaning landowners would not receive their first rental check until October 2011.

CRP enrollment is a competitive process. USDA uses an environmental benefits index to score issues such as erodible nature of property, wildlife benefits and improvements to water quality. Miller said the environmental benefits index was established several years ago to ensure USDA could identify priorities and primary conservation needs for the program.

Counties can only enroll up to 25 percent of general cropland, but USDA does offer waivers in areas with highly erodible ground where it can be shown that additional CRP acreage would not hurt the local economy. The volume of expiring acres, particularly in Great Plains states, could free up some enrollment in counties now capped under the program.

"Certainly with 4.5 million acres coming out of the program this fiscal year, that could change that 25-percent cap in some areas and open some lands up," Coppess said.

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