Edgefield, SC (March 28, 2007)—This past week, at the 72nd North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Portland, Oregon, Farm Service Agency (FSA) Deputy Administrator John Johnson made some significant announcements concerning the current Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The first announcement was that FSA had reallocated CP-33 acres to the following states: IL - 30,000 acres; IA - 5,000 acres; KS - 35,000 acres; MO - 10,000 acres and OH - 5,800 acres and that the acreage cap on CP-33 had been increased from 250,000 to 300,000 acres.

The CP-33 practice was first named "Bobwhite Buffers" when it was created because of the positive potential that it provided for bobwhite quail by creating field borders around crop fields. Early indications show that bobwhite population response is occurring on farms that have established the CP-33 practice. To date, 146,000 acres have been enrolled in CP-33.

In addition, Deputy Johnson announced the addition of 20,000 acres to the Continuous Longleaf Pine Initiative (CP-36) in Georgia for a statewide total of 64,750 acres. Georgia was the first state to allocate all their initial allotment of CP-36 acres. Incentives to encourage the maintenance and reestablishment of longleaf pine ecosystems is also another practice considered critical in the enhancement of diminishing wildlife species.

FSA will also update soil rental rates so they remain competitive with rapidly rising cropland rental rates upon which many CRP payments are based. CRP Notice 559 was sent to FSA state and local offices last week requesting that revised rental rates be calculated and completed by late summer.

Finally, FSA announced the offering of a new Continuous CRP practice called "State Acres For Wildlife Enhancement" or "SAFE," which will allow states to customize an existing Continuous CRP practice to benefit priority fish and wildlife species. More details will be available soon on this program, and the acreages per state will be based on the percentage of cropland in each state compared to the total cropland in the US. Initially, the program will allow 500,000 acres into the program, and states have been requested to submit proposals to State Tech Committees and FSA for review. It appears that a sign-up for the new SAFE practice will not begin until late this year or early 2008. To check out the latest information on SAFE, go to www.fsa.usda.gov.

Quail Unlimited continues to promote the wildlife-friendly practices of the Farm Bill. QU representatives have been very active in the wildlife community by providing advocacy for such practices.