By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH
Indiana Correspondent COLUMBUS, Ohio — Officials with the USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Ohio are hoping to get approval to amend all three of the state’s Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) areas.
Of most immediate concern is the Lake Erie CREP, which includes the Grand Lake St. Marys area, said Brandi Koehler, conservation program specialist for the Ohio FSA office. The lake was closed in June to boaters and swimmers after toxic algae blooms were found. Manure spread on nearby farms was considered to be at least part of the problem.
Recently, local FSA and Soil and Water Conservation District officials in Mercer County have asked for help. The lake is in Mercer and Auglaize counties in northwestern Ohio.
“People are up in arms. We want to try to get producers interested in putting in conservation practices,” she explained. “Whether the problem is recreation, agriculture or who knows what else, we don’t want fingers pointed at us. We want to be proactive.”
To that end, the state is asking for higher soil rental rate incentives in the CREP, Koehler said. The incentives are in addition to soil rental rates, which are set in each county based on the types of soil in the county. The better the soils, the more the landowner will be paid.
“The Lake Erie CREP has some of the best farmland in the state,” she said. “It gives us a run for our money because the land is so good.
“Soil rental rate incentives add an additional 100-200 percent to soil rental rates. They give people more money. It entices them to do more.”
The size of the incentive is based on what the landowner is willing to do with the land, she noted. For example, wetlands and tree areas pay more than grasses.
Contracts in the Lake Erie CREP are generally for 1-2 acres. The CREP was started in 2000 and has a 67,000-acre goal; so far, 38,000 acres have been committed in the area.
Ohio already has some of the highest CREP payments in the country, she said, adding the state ranks third nationwide in such payments. The average payment per acre under CREP in Ohio is $186.17. Iowa ranks first at $223 per acre, and Indiana is second with $203.56.
Koehler said the office hopes to hear something on the request by the end of the year. Officials at the federal FSA in Washington, D.C., will have the final say.
The other proposed changes involve the state’s two additional CREP areas: the Upper Big Walnut, which covers parts of four counties in the central part of the state, and the Scioto River Watershed, which goes from central Ohio south to the Ohio River.
Ohio FSA officials hope to transfer about 2,900 acres from the Upper Big Walnut to the Scioto River Watershed. The Upper Big Walnut has had no activity in about three years, Koehler said.
“We didn’t get the enrollment here they had hoped for. It’s a highly urbanized area, and with CREP being a 15-year commitment, and with land values high, there’s pressure to sell,” she said. “People are not willing to sign up for a 15-year contract. It’s about economics. Delaware County, where a part of the CREP is located, is one of the fastest-growing counties in the nation.”
The Upper Big Walnut CREP began in 2002 and had a 3,500-acre goal. So far, 550 have been committed. The Scioto River Watershed, however, has been quite popular – since it began in 2004, 69,000 of the 70,000-acre goal have been committed. Contracts in this CREP are generally for about six acres.
The transfer would extend the Scioto River Watershed CREP by at least a couple more years, Koehler said. The Scioto CREP has been more successful because landowners are offered higher soil rental rate incentives than any other CREP in the country, she added. Some of the CREP is in a floodplain, which has also helped to sell the program to landowners.
“When the CREP started in 2004, it was a very rainy year,” said Christine Reed, public relations outreach specialist for the Ohio FSA. “Farmers couldn’t wait for us to get the program up and running. We couldn’t do it fast enough.”
CREP is a partnership between state and federal governments, and Ohio backs the proposed changes 100 percent, Koehler said. |
