Farm Service Agency (FSA) Director, Dan Steinkruger announced that USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Nebraska is distributing Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) annual rental payments to participants this week. Payments originally were scheduled to be issued earlier in the month, but were delayed due to the lapse in Federal funding.

“Farmers, ranchers and landowners across Nebraska count on programs and the payment delays due to the shutdown created a burden to them,” Steinkruger said. “USDA has prioritized making these scheduled payments without any further delay and FSA staff in all Nebraska offices are working hard to get the CRP payments out the door as quickly as possible,” he said.

Nebraska producers and landowners will receive more than $60 million in rental payments on more than 28,000 CRP contracts covering nearly 900,000 acres. Nationally, CRP annual rental payments are being issued for 390,000 farms covering 26.8 million acres. The current annual rental payment being distributed is for the contract year October 1, 2012 through September 30, 2013. In exchange for the yearly rental payment provided by USDA on contracts ranging from 10 to 15 years, participants enrolled in CRP agree to remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and plant grasses, legumes and trees that improve water quality, reduce erosion, conserve water and improve waterfowl and wildlife habitat.

The 2008 Farm Bill, extended by the American Tax Payer Relief Act of 2012, provided authority to enroll new land in CRP through September 30, 2013. Legislation has not been enacted to reauthorize or extend this authority. Effective October 1, 2013, FSA cannot approve or process new applications for CRP.

CRP annual rental payments are processed through FSAs Kansas City Office. Individual questions on CRP payments should be directed to the local FSA Office where the CRP contract is administered. For more information on CRP and other FSA programs, visit your local FSA Service Center or www.fsa.usda.gov.