2008 Farm Bill Programs
Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CCRP)
Purpose of Program
- The Continuous Conservation Reserve Program is a voluntary program that focuses on using grasses, trees, and wetlands to protect soil, improve air and water quality and enhance fish and wildlife habitat through the use of buffers, filter strips, windbreaks, and wildlife corridors.
Eligibility
- May be used on cropland or pasture land bordering streams, rivers, and lakes.
- All qualifying land will be accepted into the program.
Contracts and Cost-Share
- Contract Period - 10 -15 years
- Cost Share - Signup incentive payment of $100-$150/acre, 50% cost share on qualifying practices with an additional 40% paid upon timely completion. Annual $30-$40/acre rental payment over life of contract.
Application Process
- CCRP is run by the Farm Services Agency.
- CCRP applications can be filed year round at local FSA/USDA Service Centers.
Common CCRP Practices
- Filter Strips - strips of grass used to intercept or trap sediment, pesticides or other pollutants
- Riparian Buffers - streamside planting of trees, shrubs and grasses that intercept contaminants
- Contour Buffer Strips - narrow bands of perennial vegetation established along the contours of a field and alternating with strips of crops. Can provide wildlife habitat
- Windbreaks and Shelterbelts - row or rows of trees, shrubs or other plants used to reduce wind erosion, protect crops, livestock, buildings and wildlife and control blowing snow
- Grassed Waterways - strips of grass seeded into areas of cropland where water concentrates or flows off of a field. Traps sediment, pesticides or other pollutants
- New State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement Program (SAFE) focuses on brush corridors for ocelots in the Rio Grande Valley, shallow water wetlands with grass buffers for mottled ducks along the coast and native warm season grasses and forb habitat corridors for prairie chickens in the panhandle.
- New farmable wetlands program includes wetlands contructed for nitrogen removal.
For more information contact:
Chuck Kowaleski, Farm Bill Coordinator
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
Phone: (254) 718-7684
Email: Chuck.Kowaleski@tpwd.state.tx.us
Additional Links:
- Natural Resources Conservation Service(NRCS) - Contact information from the US Dept. of Agriculture Service Center Locator for Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Rural Development agencies.
- Texas State Water and Soil Conservation Board - Texas Soil and Water Conservation Districts Locator Map and information.
- Farm Service Agency - FSA website for Texas Farm Service Agency Directory.