AFBF: CRP Provides Farmers With Income While Promoting Conservati

The Farm Bureau is highlighting the role Conservation Reserve Program, or CRP, continues to play in conservation on America’s farms and ranches.

According to USDA numbers, 2.2 million acres were enrolled in CRP in 2026. Federal law caps the program at 27 million acres nationwide. The program provides annual rental payments to landowners who take eligible agricultural land out of production or use conservation practices.

Those practices can reduce erosion, improve water quality, restore wildlife habitat and build soil health. CRP includes General, Grasslands and Continuous contracts, with different eligibility requirements and payment structures.

CRP Contract Differences

To enroll farmland into the CRP General program, farmers and ranchers submit an offer that includes their requested rental rate and FSA soil assessment scores. Each offer uses the Environmental Benefits Index (EBI), a six-factor national ranking system with five factors that quantify environmental value such as wildlife habitat, water quality, soil erosion, air quality, carbon sequestration and long-term (post contract period) benefits and one factor that scores cost-competitiveness. From there, FSA accepts offers top-to-bottom based on the land’s total EBI score until the acreage available under the statutorily imposed cap is filled. General CRP contracts accounted for just over 29% of the acres enrolled in CRP in April 2026, representing nearly 7.6 million acres.

Grasslands CRP, widely used by ranchers in Western states, uses a similar structure, awarding contracts based on factors that include conservation priority, contract structure and rental rates. Grasslands CRP contracts accounted for nearly 39% of the acres enrolled in CRP in April 2026, a total of nearly 10.3 million acres. Enrolled Grasslands CRP acres have increased each year since the program’s inception following the 2018 farm bill. It is the most popular of the three contract categories beginning in fiscal year 2024.

Unlike General and Grasslands CRP, Continuous CRP contracts are not competitively bid. Land is enrolled automatically, on a rolling basis, so long as it meets the eligibility criteria for an approved conservation practice. Continuous CRP contracts accounted for roughly 32% of the acres enrolled in CRP in April 2026, or roughly 8.3 million acres.

Farm Bureau says for 2026, national average rental rates are about $57 an acre for General CRP, $148 for Continuous, and nearly $16 for Grasslands. AFBF added the program provides farmers and ranchers with income while supporting long-term conservation.