Land Bank Slams Door On State Only 172,000 Acres Of Washington Farmland Were Accepted Into Conservation Program

Washington farmers, who once had idled more than 1 million acres of cropland under a federal conservation program, have been nearly shut out of the next 10 years of the program.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Thursday that 16.1 million acres have been accepted into the Conservation Reserve Program, which was scaled back this year to save money and target only the most environmentally sensitive cropland.

But Washington landowners, who offered 819,000 acres into the new program, were stunned to learn that they were granted only 172,000 acres.

That 21 percent acceptance rate was far below Idaho and Oregon.

“It’s apparent that Washington got left out,” said George Wood, president of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers. “This has left us puzzled.”

Larry Albin, executive state director of the USDA’s Farm Service Agency in Spokane, said he believes the department made a mistake in calculating Washington’s participation. He plans a thorough inquiry into how so much land was bumped out of the program.

“I’ve got a bad case of heartburn over this,” Albin said.

If the figures are correct, the loss of conservation reserve acreage could leave thousands of acres west and south of Spokane exposed to fierce wind storms.

It also could trigger a massive increase in the amount of wheat grown in Washington, which would depress future grain prices. However, suppliers of farm fertilizers, equipment, seed and fuel likely would benefit from the additional production.

In Idaho, 473,000 of the 571,000 acres offered were approved by the government, an 83 percent acceptance rate. In Oregon, 303,000 of 370,000 acres, or 82 percent, were accepted.

The program pays farmers to take environmentally fragile land out of production for 10 years to conserve soil, boost wildlife habitat and improve water quality.

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said tax payers will pay $39.40 per acre on average to farmers to idle their land, down from $50 per acre in the past.

The total annual cost to taxpayers would be about $634 million.

The 16.1 million acres will replace 21.2 million acres idled 10 years ago under contracts that expire Oct. 1.

Glickman said total enrollment includes 4.4 million acres that are particularly environmentally sensitive.

“Land that is not environmentally sensitive has no place in the Conservation Reserve,” he said. “The CRP is not a supply management program.”

Currently, farmers have 32.9 million acres in the program.

Farmers had offered to idle 25.6 million acres under the new program, but 100,000 applications were rejected.

Some Republican leaders expressed outrage that only six of 10 acres offered would be enrolled.

But the National Grain and Feed Association in Washington, D.C., said the program artificially raises grain prices, curbs exports, and makes the U.S. less competitive in world markets.

, DataTimes