Gov. Heineman Hosts U.S. Rep. Osborne, USDA Official
for Signing of CREP Agreement
(Holdrege, NE) Gov. Dave Heineman, working to secure options for irrigators, today signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to implement a federal conservation program designed to help conserve water.
Gov. Heineman and Floyd Gaibler, Deputy Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services with the USDA, authorized the Platte-Republican Resources Area Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP).
“Our farmers value the choice to irrigate, and this is an important option,” Gov. Heineman said. “They also recognize the importance of sustaining our natural resources, and the drought has heightened everyone’s concerns about the future. This program provides producers a financially feasible option to conserve water, while simultaneously improving water quality and enhancing wildlife habitat.”
The program will pay producers within specified areas of the Republican, North Platte and Platte river basins to retire up to 100,000 acres of irrigated cropland in favor of conservation practices such as wildlife cover. The main objective of CREP is to help conserve water in Nebraska’s rivers, reservoirs and groundwater table. The program is also expected to improve water quality and enhance benefits for wildlife.
The signing ceremony was held at 9 a.m., Saturday, March 19 at the Nebraska Prairie Museum near Holdrege. Third District Rep. Tom Osborne was actively involved in development of the proposal and also participated in the event.
A coalition of federal, state and local entities had worked on development of the CREP proposal since late 2003. The program allows producers and landowners in the designated areas to enroll cropland acres for a period of 10 or 15 years and receive annual rental payments and cost-share assistance for establishing resource conserving practices on their land.
Deputy Under Secretary Gaibler said, “This agreement will target water conservation for an approximate two-mile stretch on either side of the Republican and Platte Rivers, and from the Wyoming border to Central Nebraska.”
Merlyn Carlson, director of Nebraska Department of Agriculture, said, “CREP is an important opportunity as producers work to battle the ongoing drought. We recognize our farmers have to make some difficult management decisions to deal with dry conditions. This CREP may not work for everyone, but we believe it’s an important addition to the various options that are available.”
The USDA will pay 80 percent of the program’s estimated $158 million cost. The state will be responsible for the remaining 20 percent with in-kind services. Federal officials also will cover one-half of enrollees’ seeding cost-share expenses, expected to total $10 million if all 100,000 acres are enrolled. The state will pay the remaining half of the cost-share, or up to $5 million.
The 100,000 acres to be enrolled are divided between the three river basins. Up to 50,000 acres can be enrolled in the Republican River project area, up to 40,000 acres can be enrolled in the Platte River project area below Lake McConaughy, and up to 10,000 acres can be enrolled on the North Platte River above Lake McConaughy and in a portion of the Pumpkin Creek area.
Cropland to be enrolled must meet general Conservation Reserve Program eligibility criteria, as well as certain irrigation requirements. Both surface-water-irrigated and groundwater-irrigated acres in the program area are eligible for enrollment.
The state has funding available to accept about 15,000 acres of eligible cropland during the initial signup. Additional enrollments will depend on the availability of funds. The agreement between the state and USDA is subject to appropriations.
Sign-up is scheduled to begin Monday, April 4. Landowners in the designated program areas are encouraged to visit their local Farm Service Agency office for details. A map of the project area is available on-line at www.fsa.usda.gov/ne.
