By Tere Dunlap
tdunlap@themonroetimes.com
MONROE - U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced May 14 the Transition Incentives Program (TIP), a new program under the Conservation Title of the 2008 Farm Bill, according to a USDA Farm Service Agency press release.
The program encourages retired or retiring owners or operators to transition their land in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to beginning or socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers.
The CRP is a voluntary program for agricultural landowners, designed to protect topsoil from erosion and safeguard the natural resources. By reducing water runoff and sedimentation, CRP protects groundwater and helps improve the condition of lakes, rivers, ponds, and streams. Acreage enrolled in the CRP is planted to resource-conserving vegetative covers, making the program a major contributor to increased wildlife populations in many parts of the country.
The new Transition Incentives Program sounds good, said local FSA office Executive Director Teresa Zimmer, but is limited and has several eligibility details.
She believes the program will not be applicable to many farmers in the area.
"Most farmers are not ready to retire, and very few farmers ever really retire," she said.
Moreover, the program doesn't allow the land transition to be between family members - which eliminates farmers looking to hand down the family farm.
"(TIP) is not overly beneficial to the new operator, either," Zimmer added.
The TIP program extends CRP payments for two years for the retiring farmer who agrees to sell, or has a contract to sell, or agrees to long-term lease the land, which has a minimum of five years, under the CRP contract to a beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher.
The CRP land must be in the last year of the contract, and the farmer must agree to allow the beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher to make conservation and land improvements.
The participating beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher must have been in farming no more than 10 years, and must develop and implement a conservation plan on the land that was covered by CRP.
On the date that the new farmer or rancher takes possession of the land through ownership or lease, they will have the option to enroll in the Conservation Stewardship Program or the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. They will also have the option of re-enrolling portions of the land into the CRP through the "continuous sign-up" CRP, which is for conservation buffer practices such as contour grass strips, riparian buffers or grassed waterways.
On Oct. 31, 2009, total CRP acreage was 31.1 million acres, down from 36.8 million acres enrolled on Sept. 30, 2007, and below the new acreage limit of 32 million acres imposed by the 2008 Farm Bill. The USDA estimates that CRP contracts on another 4.4 million acres will expire in 2010, with an equal number in 2011, and 3 million acres in each of the following two years.
The Congressional Budget Office, responsible for estimating the cost of legislation, predicted the new transition option could cost $16 million between 2008 and 2012, and a total of $25 million over 2008 to 2017.
Because the TIP is part of the 2008 farm bill, the program is retroactive for land that came out of the CRP in 2008 and 2009.
Zimmer said farmers who had land come out of CRP in 2008 and 2009 have until Sept. 30 to sign up for the TIP.
In 2010, farmers have one year after the CRP expiration date to sign up for TIP.
"Access to land is one of the greatest challenges faced by new farmers," Merrigan said. "Ensuring that our nation's land is returned to production using sustainable methods is critical not only for our future food supply, but also for the economic future of our rural communities."
To learn more about program, producers interested in applying and participating in TIP should visit the Green county USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) office on 4th Avenue West, 325-4195, or www.fsa.usda.gov.
tdunlap@themonroetimes.com
MONROE - U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced May 14 the Transition Incentives Program (TIP), a new program under the Conservation Title of the 2008 Farm Bill, according to a USDA Farm Service Agency press release.
The program encourages retired or retiring owners or operators to transition their land in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to beginning or socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers.
The CRP is a voluntary program for agricultural landowners, designed to protect topsoil from erosion and safeguard the natural resources. By reducing water runoff and sedimentation, CRP protects groundwater and helps improve the condition of lakes, rivers, ponds, and streams. Acreage enrolled in the CRP is planted to resource-conserving vegetative covers, making the program a major contributor to increased wildlife populations in many parts of the country.
The new Transition Incentives Program sounds good, said local FSA office Executive Director Teresa Zimmer, but is limited and has several eligibility details.
She believes the program will not be applicable to many farmers in the area.
"Most farmers are not ready to retire, and very few farmers ever really retire," she said.
Moreover, the program doesn't allow the land transition to be between family members - which eliminates farmers looking to hand down the family farm.
"(TIP) is not overly beneficial to the new operator, either," Zimmer added.
The TIP program extends CRP payments for two years for the retiring farmer who agrees to sell, or has a contract to sell, or agrees to long-term lease the land, which has a minimum of five years, under the CRP contract to a beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher.
The CRP land must be in the last year of the contract, and the farmer must agree to allow the beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher to make conservation and land improvements.
The participating beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher must have been in farming no more than 10 years, and must develop and implement a conservation plan on the land that was covered by CRP.
On the date that the new farmer or rancher takes possession of the land through ownership or lease, they will have the option to enroll in the Conservation Stewardship Program or the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. They will also have the option of re-enrolling portions of the land into the CRP through the "continuous sign-up" CRP, which is for conservation buffer practices such as contour grass strips, riparian buffers or grassed waterways.
On Oct. 31, 2009, total CRP acreage was 31.1 million acres, down from 36.8 million acres enrolled on Sept. 30, 2007, and below the new acreage limit of 32 million acres imposed by the 2008 Farm Bill. The USDA estimates that CRP contracts on another 4.4 million acres will expire in 2010, with an equal number in 2011, and 3 million acres in each of the following two years.
The Congressional Budget Office, responsible for estimating the cost of legislation, predicted the new transition option could cost $16 million between 2008 and 2012, and a total of $25 million over 2008 to 2017.
Because the TIP is part of the 2008 farm bill, the program is retroactive for land that came out of the CRP in 2008 and 2009.
Zimmer said farmers who had land come out of CRP in 2008 and 2009 have until Sept. 30 to sign up for the TIP.
In 2010, farmers have one year after the CRP expiration date to sign up for TIP.
"Access to land is one of the greatest challenges faced by new farmers," Merrigan said. "Ensuring that our nation's land is returned to production using sustainable methods is critical not only for our future food supply, but also for the economic future of our rural communities."
To learn more about program, producers interested in applying and participating in TIP should visit the Green county USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) office on 4th Avenue West, 325-4195, or www.fsa.usda.gov.