Coming from a long line of farmers, I know our state’s struggles, uncertainties and rewards of growing grain crops. It only takes one bad year to hurt profit margins. Even in today’s modern world, with vast tools and technological resources, we cannot control the weather. With many variables and high stakes, farmers are always looking for ways to keep their land productive. The good news is that many programs and practices are available to help farmers achieve their goals.
The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which has been around for nearly 40 years, was designed to enroll marginal and sensitive agricultural land into a permanent cover that stops soil and nutrient loss. The program has come a long way since 1985, boasting more than 43 different enrollment options today that can be tailored to fit landowners’ goals. With the change in how CRP is administered and utilized over the past several decades, many practices such as prairie strips, pollinator habitat and buffers have risen to the top as the most beneficial for farmers and the land.
On almost any operation, some acres do not produce profits. These acres can be the edge of a field that borders a timberline or woody draw. They may be acres in hard-to-farm locations, such as coves or small fields broken off from larger fields. It may even be an area where topography is causing the soil to wash away. CRP can be used to seed those acres into a permanent cover that receives a yearly rental rate paid to the landowner or producer.
Native grasses and pollinator mixes are the most preferred practices for wildlife and soil health benefits. These native plant mixes bring together cover and food instrumental to wildlife survival. Birds such as quail or pheasants benefit by creating the habitat needed to complete their life cycle and survive. Farmers can receive a constant annual return by reengineering odd production areas by enrolling these acres into the program.
CRP can also be used in conjunction with fields producing high yields. CRP prairie strips are a practice that allows landowners to plant native strips either between crops or on the edge to help reduce nutrient, soil and water runoff. Iowa State University conducted studies with native prairie strips and found that strategically adding 10% of your acres into native prairie plantings on no-till corn and soybeans would result in a 44% reduction in water runoff, 95% reduction in soil loss, and 90% and 84% reduction in phosphorus and nitrogen runoff, respectively.
Native plants have been known for years to have deep and broad roots that hold the soil and build quality soil health. Adding them to a producer’s odd areas or within a field can help lift the burden and stress of making every acre profitable.
Another federal program that offers incentives for adding prairie strips is the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP). Like CRP, EQIP provides cost-share to help landowners or producers implement conservation practices on their acres. There are critical differences between the two programs. EQIP does not pay a yearly rental rate like CRP. Instead, it produces a pre-determined portion of the average rate for a conservation practice. Also, unlike CRP, EQIP can provide cost-share on acres that do not have the cropping history required by CRP. In addition, EQIP delivers a whole list of practices that can be used on a property, from terraces and native prairie plantings to high tunnel greenhouses or cover crops. Through EQIP, acres that would typically not qualify for cost-share now do, and more farmers can benefit their acres by establishing native prairie. Whole fields or contour buffers can be planted in native pollinator habitats through EQIP. The wide array of practices gives farmers more flexibility and control over what acres they want to improve.
In Missouri, we are blessed to have many partners and professionals who offer programs with incentives and cost-share that can be used to help farmers gain more out of their acres through native plants and pollinator habitat. Dozens of different state, federal and non-government organizations offer free recommendations and cost-share opportunities to farmers trying to do the most with their farms while protecting their most valuable resource, the soil.
Farmers have always been at the forefront of soil health and productivity because they recognize that if they take care of their land, their land will take care of them. To learn more about these or the other programs, stop in at your local county USDA office.
For more questions on maximizing acreage and programs available, contact the director of conservation agriculture and farm operations, Clayton Light, at clight@mosoy.org.
