Enroll in Conservation CREP Program

Southern Door Landowners whose CREP contracts are expiring this year have until Aug. 31 to re-enroll in the program, an option that might look more and more attractive in light of this summer’s floods in Wisconsin. Enrolling for the first time is also an option that non-participating landowners should consider if they have fields or pastures that frequently flood. CREP is the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, a component of the federal Conservation Reserve Program, or CRP. The CREP program offers both state and federal financial incentives to landowners who install conservation practices along waterways or return continually flooded fields or pastures to wetlands. Adjacent land can remain in agricultural production. There is no minimum acreage, and landowners may enroll land under either a 15-year agreement or a perpetual easement.

Landowners who enrolled acreage in CREP in 2002-03 must complete the re-enrollment process by Sept. 30, or lose annual and incentive payments. They may also add or remove lands. To re-enroll or enroll lands for the first time, they should call or visit their local USDA Farm Service Agency office. For more information, visit fsa.usda.gov, and search for CREP. You can also contact Kevin Seng with the Door County Soil & Water Conservation Dept. at [email protected] or 920.746.2485.