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USDA Big On Buffer Strips
Rejected in CRP sign-up? Consider putting your most marginal land into buffer strips.


6/24/97: As a part of its "National Conservation Buffer Initiative," the Department of Agriculture has begun aggressive promotion of the use of buffer strips in cropped fields, along field edges, and along waterways. Many of these practices are eligible for special treatment and even bonus payments under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and other conservation programs.

Practices like contour strips, filter strips, windbreaks, grass waterways and other uses of buffers can pay big conservation dividends on a minimal commitment of land. They can help control erosion and keep soil, fertilizers and chemicals out of surface water. These practices can be an important step toward keeping a farm healthy, productive and profitable over the long haul.

The Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is a partner in the Natural Resource Conservation Service's (NRCS) Buffer Initiative, which will call attention to the benefits of buffer strips and the ways that various conservation programs can be used to compensate farmers for establishing these practices. In particular, the CRP offers bonus payments for several buffer strip practices, and makes them eligible for continuous sign-up in the program. Land that qualifies under this provision will be accepted immediately into the CRP, if offered before September 30, 1997, without waiting for an official sign-up period.

Farmers who had land rejected in the most recent CRP sign-up should investigate ways to put the most marginal land they offered into buffer strips, instead of keeping the entire field in production.

For more information on this exciting opportunity, contact your local USDA Service Center. NRCS personnel can point you to the resources to install and maintain buffer strips, and can help you with comprehensive conservation planning so that you can get the most out of both the land in strips and the land in production.

Source: Brad DeVries, Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, bdevries@cais.com

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