Minnesota Land Stewardship Project officials are reminding farmers and ranchers that the deadline to sign up for the latest round of the Conservation Reserve Program is February 28 at county USDA Farm Service Agency offices. LSP Policy Program Organizer Tom Nuessmeier says producers can enroll in this signup or re-enroll for the 10 to 15-year term if they’re already in the program.

He says there are several practices producers can use to be eligible for CRP and they can find out more by visiting with their NRCS conservationists or with their Farm Service Agency officials.

2020 is the 35th year of CRP and over that time, the program has led to the sequestering of an average of 49 million tons of greenhouse gases, equal to taking nine million cars off of the road. Nuessmeier says that’s an indication of how beneficial CRP is in battling climate change.

Those who are accepted into the CRP get yearly rental payments in turn for voluntarily establishing long term environmental benefits by taking marginally productive agricultural lands out of production. Currently 22 million acres are enrolled in CRP with a cap of 27 million acres available.