Good practice

USDA Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)

United States of America · Washington, D.C. · See the United States of America profile

USDA programme paying farmers to convert highly erodible cropland to permanent vegetative cover. 24.8 million acres (~10 Mha) enrolled; $1.8 billion in annual payments; documented soil erosion reduction, improved water quality and enhanced wildlife habitat across the continental

24.8M acres (~10M ha)

Land enrolled

$1.8bn /yr

Annual payments

Details

Maturity: Established
Promoter: USDA Farm Service Agency
Period: 1985-present
Keywords: Grassland, cropland, wetland, carbon, soil, water, wildlife

Context

The USDA Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) pays farmers to convert highly erodible cropland to permanent vegetative cover across the continental United States.

Results

About 24.8 million acres (~10 million ha) are enrolled at roughly $1.8 billion in annual payments, with documented reductions in soil erosion, improved water quality and enhanced wildlife habitat.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

C-NAPSE web research — accessed 2026-06-20
USDA Farm Service Agency — accessed 2026-06-20
USDA FSA – CRP programme page — accessed 2026-06-20
US GAO – CRP environmental benefits review (2024) — accessed 2026-06-20
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition – CRP overview — accessed 2026-06-20

Quality score: 67/100

How is this calculated?

Evidence: Observational / pre–post

Top 8% in this catalogue (335 scored practices)

Scores cluster high, so position within the catalogue is often more telling than the number alone.

Evaluation

Evaluated by C-NAPSE

Score profile — the dimensions behind the score — how it's computed

Carbon — sequestration / storage, evidenced1/3

Permanent grasses and trees sequester carbon in vegetation and soil, with a Climate-Smart Practice Incentive explicitly rewarding carbon-sequestering cover, but programme-level CO2 tonnage is not the primary purpose or routinely published.

Biodiversity — conservation / improvement, evidenced2/3

Wildlife habitat is a statutory CRP goal; enrolled acres support grassland birds, pollinators and upland game, though species-level population data are not centralised in programme reporting.

Water & soil — retention, infiltration, erosion control3/3

Primary purpose: soil erosion control and water quality improvement through filter strips, riparian buffers and grass waterways on 9.3 Mha of previously cultivated land, routinely monitored by USDA.

Fire resilience — risk reduction, evidenced1/3

USDA states that permanent vegetative cover builds wildfire resilience particularly on Great Plains grasslands, but fire-risk reduction is not separately measured in programme metrics.

Governance, certification & transferability3/3

Statutory federal programme under successive Farm Bills since 1985; FSA administers mandatory on-site verification, annual payments audited at US Treasury level; 40-year track record with continuous congressional reauthorisation.

Cite this

Evidoria. USDA Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Persistent ID: 25c0fc02-8286-43e6-9b06-54cd9a04d5ae.

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