INDIANAPOLIS – Agricultural producers and landowners in Indiana can apply for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Grasslands signup until Aug. 20. This year, the USDA updated signup options to provide greater incentives for producers and increased the program’s conservation and climate benefits, including setting a minimum rental rate and identifying two national priority zones.

The CRP Grassland signup is competitive, and USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) will provide for annual rental payments for land devoted to conservation purposes.

“USDA is excited to roll out our new and improved CRP Grasslands signup,” said Susan Houston, acting state executive director for FSA in Indiana. “USDA is providing a bigger return on investment in terms of protecting natural resource benefits. The Grasslands signup is just one of the many tools available through CRP to help protect our nation’s working lands.”

CRP Grasslands helps Indiana landowners and operators protect grassland, including rangeland, and pastureland and certain other lands, while maintaining the areas as working grazing lands. Protecting grasslands contributes positively to the economy of many regions, provides biodiversity of plant and animal populations, and provides important carbon sequestration benefits.

FSA has updated the Grasslands signup to establish a minimum rental rate of $15 per acre, which will benefit 1,300 counties.

To focus on important wildlife corridors, FSA also identified National Grassland Priority Zones, providing extra incentives to producers for enrolling grasslands in important migratory corridors and environmentally sensitive areas: the Greater Yellowstone Elk Migration Corridor and the Severe Wind Erosion-Dust Bowl Zone. Counties within these two zones get extra ranking points as well as $5 added to their rental rate.

To enroll in the CRP Grasslands signup, producers and landowners should contact USDA by the Aug. 20 deadline. Service Center staff continue to work with agricultural producers via phone, email and other digital tools. Because of the pandemic, some USDA Service Centers are open to limited visitors. Contact your Service Center to set up an in-person or phone appointment. Additionally, more information related to USDA’s response and relief for producers can be found at farmers.gov/coronavirus.

CRP is one of the largest voluntary private-lands conservation programs in the United States. It was signed into law in 1985.