USDA Aims To Take More Farmland Out Of Production

WASHINGTON (October 14, 1997 11:52 a.m. EDT) -- Seeking to entice more farmers to retire environmentally sensitive land, the government started taking a new round of bids Tuesday from producers who want to be paid for idling farmland.

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said his department is training farmers on tailoring their applications to get their land accepted into the Conservation Reserve Program. The Agriculture Department will take applications through Nov. 14.

The department has also made changes in the formula that's used to evaluate bids for their environmental benefits and cost.

Farmers who improve their land for wildlife habitat or ask for less than the maximum payment are more likely to get into the program. To idle more land in the Pacific Northwest, the department also is giving more weight to the air quality benefits from idling land, Glickman said.

The nation's largest land conservation program, CRP was overhauled this year to place more emphasis on environmental protection and less on controlling what kinds of crops are planted on farms.

That caused some confusion in the spring signup, in which more than 7.1 million acres were rejected.

"There were some rough spots" in that signup, Glickman said. "We've been working to smooth those out."

Farmers are paid to keep land out of production for 10 to 15 years and plant it to trees, shrubs and grass.

About 27.8 million acres are currently in the program. USDA is authorized to enroll up to 36.4 million acres. Some 4.8 million acres are scheduled to leave the program next fall.