The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a voluntary program available to agricultural producers to help them use environmentally-sensitive land for conservation benefits. Producers enrolled in CRP plant long-term, resource-conserving covers to improve the quality of water, control soil erosion, and develop wildlife habitat. In return, FSA provides participants with rental payments and cost-share assistance. Contract duration is between 10 and 15 years.
While the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has benefited many wildlife species, it often falls short of maximizing its benefits. A common scenario is that wildlife diversity tends to increase rapidly in the first few years when the planting is young, diverse and still becoming established, and then plant and wildlife diversity decreases if no management is conducted. The introduction of Mid-Contract Management (MCM) as a feature of CRP has had a tremendously positive effect in Minnesota on maintaining the vitality of native grass and forb plantings. The purpose of MCM is to manage established CRP stands in order to maintain an early successional stage with vigorously growing grasses, forbs, shrubs and trees which provide excellent food and cover for wildlife. Early successional habitat requires disturbance to be maintained.
MCM is required for all CRP contracts beginning in 2003 and beyond, and is voluntary for prior contracts. It is to be completed in the half-way through the CRP contract.
MCM will:
*Increase plant species and structural diversity.
* Provide wildlife habitat for those species that use early successional stage vegetative habitat.
* Provide habitat for declining species.
* Remove duff and control woody vegetation.
Approved MCM practices in this area include: mowing, prescribed burning, light disking, and inter-seeding forbs and legumes on grasslands; and thinning, release and pruning in shelterbelts, windbreaks, and tree/shrub plantings. All of these activities are eligible for cost-share reimbursement through the Farm Service Agency. Management must be completed outside of the primary nesting season – before May 15 or after August 1. MCM activities must be reported to the FSA office in order to remain in compliance with CRP contact regulations.
For more information on MCM on your CRP acres, contact your local Farm Service Agency office.
