Abstract

Land that was contracted into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) was committed to the program for 10 years. The first contracts expire in September 1995, but USDA has already authorized a one-year extension of those contracts. Unless Congress extends the program in the 1995 Farm Bill the contracts will begin expiring on September 30, 1996, as the 10- year period elapses, and continuing until all of the acres that were set aside in the program are released. In Kentucky, about 440,000 acres were contracted in the program from 1986 to 1992. Most of the land is highly erodible, and farmers were required to establish and maintain a vegetative cover to protect the soil from erosion. Grasses or grass-legume mixtures were established on about 434,000 acres of this land. The rest was planted to trees or wildlife habitat. A 1993 survey by the Soil and Water Conservation Society indicated that, without extension of the CRP and assuming current commodity prices, 63% of U. S. farmers would return their land to row crop production the first year after their contracts expire. About 23% would continue in grassland for hay or grazing. In the USDA Appalachian region where Kentucky is listed, those estimates are 48% returned to row crops, 23% left in grass, and 13% left in trees. Much of Kentucky, especially western Kentucky, will probably respond more like the Corn Belt region where 73% of CRP acres are expected to be cropped and only 16% will be kept in grass. The crops will be mostly com and soybeans.

Publication Date

1995

Volume

16

Number

1

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