The USDA Conservation Reserve Program (CRP):

The CRP was authorized by the Food Security Act of 1985 and nationwide enrollment was capped at 45,000,000 acres. CRP offers annual payments for 10-15 year contracts to participants who establish grass, shrub and tree cover on environmentally sensitive lands. It was reauthorized in the 2008 Farm Bill, with the current cap on total acreage allowed in the program at 39.2 million acres, but decreasing to 30 million acres by 2011 (the current number of acres in the program).

ABA believes non-environmentally sensitive acreage has erroneously been contracted into the CRP, and supports releasing this land for food and feed crop production.