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119-hr-6388119th CongressWALLET

Conservation Reserve Program Modernization Act

Sponsored By: Representative Finstad, Brad [R-MN-1]

In Committee

Summary

Modernizes the Conservation Reserve Program by expanding which lands and conservation practices can enroll and by reshaping cost-share and rental payment rules to steer more land into buffers, wetlands, and long-term habitat protection.

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  • Farmers and landowners: More land types can qualify, including cropland with at least an 85% share of certain soil classes and a cropping history of 4 of the last 6 years, plus grasslands, marginal pasture, wetlands, and parts of fields that are largely enrolled as buffers. These changes open options for producers with less-productive or intermittent acreage.
  • Conservation partners and habitat: The bill creates a clear "conservation buffer" category and lists practices such as riparian buffers, prairie strips, saturated buffers, bioreactors, wetland buffers, and living snow fences. States, tribes, and nongovernmental organizations can propose targeted projects to address water quality and wildlife needs for Secretary approval.
  • Payments and program design: Cost-share help for establishing permanent vegetation and related practices is set at 50% and explicitly covers fencing, seeding, erosion control, water development, and mid-contract management. Annual rental payments are tied to reenrollment rules and county rental rate caps by soil capability class: 85% for class I–II, 100% for class III, 115% for classes IV–VII, and 100% for continuous enrollments.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.

Half cost-share for CRP work

If enacted, the Secretary would pay 50% of the cost to establish and manage permanent vegetation on enrolled CRP land. Covered costs would include site preparation, seed and planting, fertilizer, erosion control, fencing, water development to protect riparian areas, and necessary mid-contract management. You would need a CRP contract and the Secretary must determine the activity is appropriate and in the public interest.

More land eligible for CRP

If enacted, the bill would expand which cropland, grassland, and marginal pastureland can join CRP and would add clear CRP definitions. Cropland would qualify if at the field level at least 85% of soils are class III–VII, or if the field was planted at least 4 of the 6 years before enactment. Grasslands mainly used for grazing and pasture with habitat value could qualify. The Secretary could accept projects from States, local governments, Indian Tribes, or NGOs, and could enroll partial fields when over 50% is a buffer or over 75% is another practice and the remainder is infeasible to farm. The bill would define 'conservation buffer' and list examples like filterstrips, riparian buffers, wetlands, shelterbelts, and denitrifying bioreactors.

New CRP rental caps and reenrollments

If enacted, county CRP rental payments would be limited based on soil class and enrollment type. For general or enhancement enrollments, class I–II would be capped at 85% of the county dryland cropland rate, class III at 100%, and classes IV–VII at 115%. Continuous enrollments would be capped at 100% regardless of class. If you reenroll land, the first reenrollment payment would be capped at 85% of the county average, and each later reenrollment would reduce that percentage by 10 percentage points.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Finstad, Brad [R-MN-1]

MN • R

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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