Recent ERS Reports Related to Water Quality Programs

The Conservation Reserve Program: Enrollment Statistics for Signup Periods 1-12 and Fiscal Years 1986-93, SB-925, November 1995 (C. Tim Osborn, Felix Llacuna, Michael Linsenbigler). The U.S. Department of Agriculture accepted about 33.9 million acres of cropland into the CRP during 1986-89. An additional 2.5 million acres were enrolled in 1991 and 1992 under significantly revised program rules.

Soil Erosion and Conservation in the Unites States: An Overview, AIB-718, Oct. 1995 (Richard Magleby, Carmen Sandretto, William Crosswhite, C. Tim Osborn). Soil erosion in the United States does not pose an immediate threat to the Nation's ability to produce food and fiber, but it does reduce the productivity of some soils, and it also causes water quality damage. USDA has initiated a number of programs for promoting soil conservation measures to farmers. USDA's Water Quality Program Enters its 6th Year, AREI Update, 1995 No. 11 (Marc Ribaudo). Sixty-five water quality projects were started in 1995, and 6 projects were completed at the end of 1994. Over 400 water quality projects have been started since 1990.

Voluntary Incentives for Reducing Agricultural Nonpoint Source Water Pollution, AIB-716, May 1995 (Peter Feather and Joe Cooper). Data from the Area Studies are used to evaluate the success of existing incentive programs to control agricultural nonpoint source pollution. Because profitability drives production decisions, these programs tend to be most successful when they promote inexpensive changes in existing practices.

A Preliminary Assessment of the Integrated Crop Management Practices, ERS Staff Report AGES-9402, Feb. 1994 (C. Tim Osborn, D. Hellerstein, C. Matthew Rendelman, Marc Ribaudo, and Russ Keim). Analysis of the first year of ICM, based on a sample of four crops grown in four States, indicates limited success. The primary effect of ICM appears to have been reduced nitrogen fertilizer use.

Water Quality Benefits from the Conservation Reserve Program, AER-606, Feb. 1989 (Marc Ribaudo). The Conservation Reserve Program is estimated to generate between $3.5 and $4 billion in water quality benefits if it achieves its original enrollment goal of 40-45 million acres. Potential benefits include lower water treatment costs, lower sediment removal costs, less flood damage, less damage to equipment that uses water, and increased recreational fishing.

(Contact to obtain reports: Marc Ribaudo, (202) 501-8387 [mribaudo@econ.ag.gov])

Ribaudo, M., and D. Woo (1991). "Summary of State Water Quality Lawas Affecting Agriculture," Agricultural Resources: Cropland, Water, and Conservation. AR-23. U.S. Dept. Agr., Econ. Res. Serv., Sept. pp. 50-54.

Rockwell, S.K., D.R. Hay, and J.S. Buck (1991). Organization and Implementation Assessment of the FY90-94 Water Quality Demonstration Projects. University of Nebraska, Sept.

Stevens, W.K. (1995). "Restored Wetlands Could Ease Threat of Mississippi Floods," New York Times, Aug. 8, page C1.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (1993). The USDA Water Quality Program Plan (1989). Waterfax: 000. Working Group on Water Quality, April.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Consolidated Farm Services Agency (1995a). Agricultural Conservation Program: 1994 Fiscal Year Statistical Summary. Feb.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Consolidated Farm Services Agency (1995b). Colorado River Salinity Control Program: From Inception of Program through 1994 Fiscal Year. Jan.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service (1994). Agricultural Resources and Environmental Indicators. AH-705. Dec.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (1995). Water Quality Progress Report (unpublished draft).

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (1996). Physical Impacts of Selected USDA Water Quality Projects: Final Assessment Report. (Draft). Feb.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1990). Rural Clean Water Program. Nonpoint Source Control Branch, Washington, DC.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1994). Section 319 Success Stories. 841-S-94-004. Nov.

U.S. General Accounting Office (1995). Information on Salinity Control Projects in the Colorado River Basin. GAO/RCED-95-58. March.

Westenbarger, D.A., and D. Letson. (1995). "Livestock and Poultry Waste-Control Costs," Choices, Second Quarter. pp. 27-30.

Th

PROGRAMS

6.3 Conservation Reserve Program

After several years without new signups or significant new
program activity, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
became active on multiple fronts in 1995 and 1996. In
1995, USDA allowed early release from CRP contracts,
permitted 1-year extensions of contracts scheduled to
expire in 1995, and held a 13th signup to replace early-out
acres with more environmentally sensitive cropland. In
1996, USDA allowed a second early-out opportunity and
another 1-year extension of expiring contracts. Also in
1996, the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act
continued the CRP at a maximum of 36.4 million acres
through the year 2002. In March 1997, USDA held a major
signup based on new program rules that expanded land
eligibility conditions, and revised rental payment limits and
the environmental ranking acceptance process. Of 23.3
million acres offered, USDA accepted 16.1 million at an
average rental fee of $39 an acre.

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), USDA's most ambitious conservation effort, was initiated by Congress in Title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985. As a voluntary long-term cropland retirement program, CRP provides participants (farm owners or operators) with an annual per-acre rent and half the cost of establishing a permanent land cover (usually grass or trees) in exchange for retiring highly erodible and/or environmentally sensitive cropland from production for 10-15 years. Although the enrollment mandate established in the 1985 Act was 40-45 million acres by the end of the 1990 crop year, by that point 33.9 million acres had been enrolled. The primary goal of the CRP during 1986-89 was to reduce soil erosion on highly erodible cropland. Secondary objectives included protecting the Nation's longrun capability to produce food and fiber, reducing sedimentation, improving water quality, fostering wildlife habitat,

curbing the production of surplus commodities, and providing income support for farmers.

The Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (1990 Farm Act) extended the CRP enrollment period through 1995, and redirected the goals of the CRP toward improving water quality and other environmental concerns. Under the 1990 Act, an additional 2.5 million acres were enrolled, bringing total enrollment to 36.4 million acres as of 1993. Subsequent appropriations legislation capped CRP enrollment at 38 million acres. In April 1996, President Clinton signed the Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform Act (1996 Farm Act), continuing the CRP through 2002. Under this legislation, USDA was given authority to re-enroll existing CRP contracts, as well as enroll new acres, subject to a maximum annual enrollment of 36.4 million acres.

Eligible acres included cropland in land capability classes II-V eroding at least three times greater than the tolerance rate, or any cropland in land capability classes VI-VIII. 2 Eligible acres expanded to include cropland in land capability classes II-V eroding at least two time the tolerance rate and having gully erosion. Eligible acres expanded to include cropland eroding above the tolerance rate with an erodibility index of 8 or greater.

Eligible acres expanded to include cropland in land capability classes II-V eroding at least two times the tolerance rate if planted in trees. Eligibility also extended to cropland areas 66-99 feet wide adjacent to permanent water bodies for placement in filter strips. Eligible acres expanded to include cropped wetlands and cropland areas subject to scour erosion. Eligible acres expanded to include cropland devoted to easement practices, cropland in State water quality areas, cropland in conservation priority areas, and cropland within established wellhead protection areas. Farmed wetlands, even if otherwise eligible, were ineligible for enrollment. Eligible acres included fields with an average erodibility index greater than or equal to 8, cropland areas with evidence of scour erosion caused by out-of-bank water flows and floods occurring in at least one out of 10 years, wellhead protection areas identified by the Environmental Protection Agency, any cropland determined suitable for riparian buffer/filterstrips by NRCS, small farmed wetlands contained in and part of a field that were otherwise eligible, or any cropland located in the Chesapeake Bay region watershed, the Great region watershed, the Long Island Sound watershed, other areas designated as conservation priority areas in CRP signup 12, and newly approved State priority areas. Net after subtracting 1.5 million acres terminated by producers prior to 1995 early-out.

Source: USDA, ERS, based on CRP contract data.

8

Program Status Up to the 1996 Farm Act
After 12 years, as of December 1996, the CRP
contained approximately 33 million acres of idled
cropland (table 6.3.1). This is less than the 37.0
million acres enrolled in signups 1-13 due to 704,000
acres removed in the May 1995 early-out, 1.5 million
acres from contracts previously terminated by
producers, 126,000 acres scheduled to expire in 1995
and not extended by producers, 768,000 acres
removed under 1996 early-out authority, and 956,000
acres scheduled to expire in 1996 and not extended
(table 6.3.2).

CRP acres (December 1996) were concentrated in the
Great Plains and western Corn Belt (table 6.3.2, fig.
6.3.1). Annual CRP rental payments averaged about
$49 per acre. Annual erosion reductions for the

acreage in the program as of December 1996 totaled
626 million tons, or about 19 tons per acre. This is a
20-percent reduction in cropland erosion compared
with conditions prior to the CRP. Most CRP acres
were planted to grass, but the CRP also included 2.4
million acres of trees, 1.6 million acres of special
wildlife practices (e.g. habitat, shallow water area),
and 8,100 miles of filter strips along waterways.

Early-Outs and Contract Extensions in 1995
On December 14, 1994, the Secretary of Agriculture
announced that, under authority of the 1985 and 1990
Farm Acts, USDA would (1) allow participants to be
released early from contracts (or to reduce the number
of acres under contract), and (2) allow producers with
contracts expiring in 1995 to extend their contracts 1
year.