LONDON, Ohio — Farmers in 27 northwest Ohio counties now are eligible for $220 million in land conservation incentives. Gov. Bob Taft and USDA officials announced the changes to the Lake Erie Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program during the Farm Science Review last week.

Enrollment starts in late October and is expected to be a continuous sign-up.

Lake Erie CREP, which started in spring 2000, is a voluntary program that provides financial incentives to farmers and landowners in the Lake Erie watershed if they put into practice methods of land protection.

It’s designed to improve water quality in the overall Lake Erie watershed by encouraging farmers to control water runoff in the watershed that comprise it - the Sandusky, Maumee, Portage, Huron, Vermilion and Black River watersheds.

The increased funding to Lake Erie CREP comes from a federal, state, local and non-profit organization partnership. The goal is to improve water quality by reducing runoff of soil sediment, nutrients and pesticides. Establishing stream buffer strips also helps lower water temperatures, increase dissolved oxygen and provide additional habitat for fish and wildlife.

Farmers who participate in this program will help stem the flow of pollutants by taking such measures as planting grass and trees along side streams to slow and filter water as it flows into the streams and restoring wetlands that collect water during storms, thereby reducing the highest stream flows during storms and reducing the risk of flooding downstream.

“The changes announced today will offer farmers more choices and better incentives,” Todd Hesterman of the Conservation Action Project and Environmental Defense said. “Farmers will be able to choose practical conservation measures that fit on their farms, and they will receive significantly higher payments in many cases.”

The additions to CREP offer more flexibility in contract lengths and additional financial incentives for planting trees. Wildlife will also benefit from the restoration of native grasses, streamside habitat, wetlands and rare prairie and oak savanna.

There is a $100-per-acre bonus for farmers who plant trees in the buffer strips and the new program allows farmers to plant buffer strips in parts of their fields subject to erosion, not just along streams and ditches. Farmers also get an incentive to get their neighbors to sign up for the program and continue riparian corridors.

“To date, more than $16 million in state and local funds have been invested in this important Lake Erie conservation program,” Taft said. “These new incentives will encourage even greater participation, benefiting both the lake and those farmers and other landowners who are working to protect it.”

The Lake Erie CREP was Ohio’s first CREP. Since then, more than 5,500 northwest Ohio farmers and landowners have enrolled and established more than 26,000 acres of conservation practices in the lake’s watershed.

The conservation practices protect an estimated 2,400 miles of streams and tributaries in the watershed.

Counties in the Lake Erie CREP are Allen, Ashland, Auglaize, Crawford, Defiance, Erie, Fulton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Huron, Lucas, Lorain, Marion, Medina, Mercer, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Richland, Sandusky, Seneca, Shelby, Van Wert, Williams, Wood and Wyandot.

The partnership’s funding includes the Conservation Action Project, OFBF, Environmental Defense, Pheasants Forever, FSA, NRCS, Ohio Department of Natural Resources and local soil and water conservation districts.

This farm news was published in the Sept. 27, 2006 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.