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CRP vs. Ethanol
Conservation initiatives clash

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has been a tremendous boon to wildlife habitat throughout the Midwest, particularly upland species such as pheasants, since its inception in 1985. Now, this wildlife-friendly program may be threatened by another conservation-related development—the increasing demand for ethanol and other biofuels.

CRP is a voluntary program that helps improve water quality, curtail soil erosion, and provide wildlife habitat by keeping marginal farmland out of crop production. Farmers agree to keep part of their land in grass, trees, or other cover crops for a period of ten or fifteen years, and the U.S. Department of Agricultural compensates them a rate per acre based on local rental rates and environmental benefits. The program has been wildly successful, with 35 million acres enrolled.

As the ethanol boom grips the Midwest, however, grain and corn prices are soaring, and some farmers are eager to plant as much corn as possible to take advantage of the market. In early May, a coalition of grain and feed organizations asked U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns to allow farmers to withdraw their land from the CRP program without penalty and put it back into crop production. Planting corn requires heavy tillage and application of chemicals and is a poor use for many CRP lands.

“The CRP has been a godsend for conserving the core of our habitat,” Todd Bogenschutz, an Iowa Department of Natural Resources upland game biologist, told the Des Moines Register. “With talk of $3- to $4-a-bushel corn, it definitely has us worried.” Even if farmers are not allowed to remove their CRP acreage early, the ethanol boom could encourage many not to re-enroll when their contracts expire. An estimate from the Iowa Corn Promotion Board said that 7 million of the 36 million acres enrolled in the CRP in Iowa could be taken out of the program in the near future.

“From the DNR’s perspective for wildlife habitat and water quality, we’d rather not see that land go back into production,” said Bogenschutz.