Conservation Reserve Program(CRP)

C. Agriculture

4. Conservation Practices in Watershed

An additional USDA program, CRP, began in 1985 and was expanded in 1996. This program was designed to protect soil and water quality through direct payment to farmers that removed eligible cropland from environmentally sensitive lands for 10 years and established resource-conserving cover on the land. Figure 47 summaries CRP data from 1990-1992.

Figure 47: List of Acres Enrolled in CRP in the Darby Watershed 1990-1992
County	# Acres in Watershed	CRP Eligible lands (Ac.)	Enrolled through 1990	Enrolled through 1991	Enrolled through 1992	Total	Percent of Eligible
Champaign	56,898	19,000	1,767	1,815	855	4,437	23%
Franklin	57,175	1,250	550	1,547	95	2,192	175%
Logan	18,267	9,150	1,500	510	328	1,338	15%
Madison	116,010	30,400	1,500	1,173	605	3,278	11%
Pickaway	40,529	2,050	363	483	454	1,300	63%
Union	82,757	27,650	400	2,538	1,223	4,161	15%
Total	371,668	89,500	5,080	8,066	3,560	16,706	19%
*Greater than 100% for Franklin County is because of a change in CRP sign-up rules that permitted any land in the hydrologic unit to be eligible; Franklin County was designated a hydrologic unit in 1991.

Source: Gordon and Simpson, 1994, Table 2.3

Eligibility for soils in CRP was based on fields with two-thirds or more highly erodible cropland.

By 1992, approximately 16,706 acres were enrolled in the CRP program which was roughly 19% of all soils eligible for the program. The present CRP enrollment in the Darby Watershed was generated several years ago from FSA and NRCS as illustrated in Figure 48 and new contracts between 2001 and 2004 are represented in Figure 49.

Figure 48: Present Enrollment in CRP
County	Acreage
Champaign	1,570
Franklin	571
Logan	172
Madison	1,060
Pickaway	864
Union	1,500* - 2,286*
Total	5,737 - 6,523

Figure 49: New CRP Contracts in Darby Watershed
County	2001	2002	2003	2004
Champaign	No Data Submitted
Franklin	8.4	70	120.2	10.6
Logan	4	6	5.5	11
Madison	No Data Submitted
Pickaway	393	366	394	461
Union	13.5	14	19	72
Totals	418.9	456	538.7	554.6

* The fluctuation in acreage reflects the different estimates provided by the FSA and NRCS, 2001

Source: NRCS, 2005

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Last updated: August 18, 2008.