Guide for landowners
What is the Conservation Reserve Program?
CRP is a voluntary USDA program that pays you an annual rent to take environmentally sensitive cropland out of production and put it into grass, trees, or other conservation cover. It is run by the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA), contracts last 10 to 15 years, and the payment is set from your county soil rental rate. This guide covers who runs it, what it paid, what land qualifies, and how signup worked before new enrollment paused.
What CRP is, and who runs it
The Conservation Reserve Program pays landowners and operators to establish long-term conservation cover, such as approved grasses or trees, on land that is prone to erosion or sits along water. In exchange you agree not to farm those acres for the length of the contract, which runs 10 to 15 years. The USDA Farm Service Agency administers CRP, with technical help from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), state forestry agencies, and local soil and water conservation districts. It has been federal law since the Food Security Act of 1985.
General signup versus continuous signup
CRP had two main ways in, and both are paused until Congress extends CRP authority. General signup ran during announced periods, and offers competed against each other on an Environmental Benefits Index that scored wildlife, water quality, erosion control, and cost. Continuous signup took offers for specific high-value practices like buffers, waterways, and wetlands outside those periods, and those offers were not ranked against others. The practical difference showed up in the rate: general signup soil rental rates were prorated to 85 percent, continuous to 90 percent, so continuous-practice acres usually paid more per acre.
What CRP paid, and how the rate is set
Here is the honest version. There is a national average, but the number that binds your contract is your county soil rental rate, which FSA builds from the productivity of your specific soils and USDA NASS cash rent for the county. The averages below are for planning, not a quote.
Last published rates (FY2026 signup)
| Rate | Average ($/acre/year) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| General signup average | $57 | Competitive, capped at $240/acre |
| Continuous (non-CREP) average | $145 | Specific practices; not ranked against other offers |
| All-program average | $72 | Across all CRP enrollment types |
A parcel's binding rate is its county soil rental rate, set at enrollment from soil productivity and NASS cash rent. General signup is prorated to 85 percent and capped; continuous to 90 percent.
The reason your county rate can land well above or below the national average is that CRP rides on cash rent, and cash rent swings by county and soil. For the planning range in your state, see CRP payment rates by state. To see which programs your parcel's soils screen eligible for (Scout shows CRP's status, not a rate, while new enrollment is paused), run the USDA program eligibility checker.
What land qualifies
CRP is aimed at environmentally sensitive cropland, so eligibility turns on your land's history and its soils, the same traits AgriTerra reads from USDA data:
- Cropping history: the ground generally must have been planted, or considered planted, to a commodity for 4 of the 6 crop years from 2012 to 2017, and be legally able to be farmed.
- Erodibility: for general signup, land also needs a weighted average erosion index of 8 or higher, or to sit in an expiring CRP contract, or to fall in a national or state conservation priority area.
- Capability and drainage: highly erodible, wet, or marginal acres are the ones that tend to score well, because they deliver the conservation benefit CRP is paying for.
You also generally need to have owned or operated the land for at least 12 months before enrolling, with exceptions for land acquired through a previous owner's death or a foreclosure redemption.
CRP versus cash rent versus farming it
For a lot of owners the real question is not "do I qualify" but "is CRP the best use of these acres." On strong, productive ground, cash rent or farming usually wins. On the wet, erodible, low-yielding corners that lose money most years, a CRP rate set off marginal soil can beat what that ground nets in production, and it does it with far less risk. The way to settle it is to put the numbers side by side for your parcel: run the farm vs. solar vs. CRP comparison to weigh a CRP rate against continued farming, a cash lease, or a solar lease on the same acres. While new enrollment is paused, Scout shows CRP there as a status line with no rate, and the dollar comparison covers farming, cash rent, and a solar or wind lease.
How applying through FSA worked
While new enrollment is paused, FSA is not approving new CRP offers under any signup. When it could, enrollment ran through the local FSA county office, not online: confirm the land's eligibility, decide between general and continuous signup based on the practice that fits the acres, and submit an offer at or below the maximum rate FSA calculated in advance for the soils. General signup offers were made during an announced period and competed on the Environmental Benefits Index; continuous-practice offers were taken outside those periods. If you hold a contract, your county FSA office is still the place for questions about it. You can find your office through the USDA service locator at farmers.gov.
For how AgriTerra sources and labels every figure on this page, see how we get our numbers.
CRP: frequently asked questions
- How much does CRP pay per acre?
- New CRP enrollment is paused: FSA's authority to approve new CRP contracts ended on Sept 30, 2026 (Notice CRP-1101), so no new contract is being priced until Congress extends it. CRP contracts FSA approved by Sept 30, 2026 keep receiving their annual rental and other contract payments (USDA FSA Notice CRP-1101). When FSA could enroll, the rate that bound a contract was the county soil rental rate, set from the productivity of the soils and USDA NASS cash rent; general signup rates were prorated to 85 percent and capped, continuous rates to 90 percent. The last published averages are in the table above and in CRP payment rates by state.
- Can you hunt on CRP land?
- Usually, yes. CRP enrollment does not by itself make private land public, so hunting access still depends on the owner, state law, and any lease. Keep the required conservation cover intact and check your conservation plan or county FSA office before any activity that could disturb the cover. Some states offer voluntary walk-in access programs, but those are separate from the CRP rental payment.
- Can you buy CRP land?
- Yes. A farm can be sold with CRP acres on it, but the contract details matter. The buyer should ask FSA before closing whether the contract will be assumed, revised, or terminated; ending a contract can have payment consequences. FSA normally asks that you have owned or operated the land for 12 months before enrolling new acres, with exceptions for land acquired through a previous owner death or a foreclosure redemption.
- What happens when a CRP contract expires?
- When the contract ends the annual payments stop and the conservation requirement is lifted, so you can return the acres to production. While new enrollment is paused, FSA cannot approve a new or re-enrollment offer, so re-offering the acres waits until Congress extends CRP authority. When it does, land in an expiring CRP contract is specifically eligible to compete in general signup. Retiring owners transferring CRP ground to a beginning farmer may be eligible for transition incentives.
See which USDA programs your parcel screens eligible for.
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