WASHINGTON D.C.-- Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (CO-04) and Congressman Gabe Evans (CO-08) have introduced the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) Improvement Act to help ranchers and farmers receive a fairer payment structure from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and responsibly manage water resources in agricultural areas. U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper of Colorado and Dr. Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran of Kansas will be introducing the bipartisan companion bill in the U.S. Senate.

As ranchers and farmers voluntarily retire farm acreage to comply with conservation requirements, the USDA has supplied CREP participants with payments to make agriculture leaders whole. The CREP Improvement Act makes adjustments to the payment structure that incentivizes more farmers and ranchers to participate and reforms the payment formula to apply retroactively to water and conservation agreements.

“Our ranchers and farmers are doing everything they can to conserve water while continuing to provide for their families and communities, but the current agreement with the USDA badly needs reform," said Congresswoman Boebert. "Our CREP Improvement Act has support from both sides of the aisle and is driven by local stakeholders in Colorado who deserve a fair payment structure for retiring their land and ensuring a sustainable future for agriculture interests. This will be a win for ranchers and farmers in Colorado and across America, and I look forward to working with Rep. Evans, and Senators Bennet, Hickenlooper, Marshall, and Moran to pass this legislation through Congress."

“The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program Improvement (CREP) Act gives Colorado’s hardworking farmers and ranchers a path forward, allowing them the flexibility to voluntarily cut back on water use while keeping our working lands productive. This bill is a smart, bipartisan step toward protecting Colorado’s water and ensuring our agricultural communities remain sustainable for generations to come," said Congressman Evans.

"The Colorado Farm Bureau welcomes the reintroduction of the CREP Improvement Act in the House by Congresswoman Boebert. By removing the $50,000 payment limitation, the playing field for additive water conservation and stewardship will be expanded. We're grateful for the continued leadership of our Colorado delegation on this bill,” said Carlyle Currier, President of the Colorado Farm Bureau.

“The proposed improvements to the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program are a significant step forward for agricultural communities, especially in eastern Colorado. By increasing flexibility, enhancing incentives, and recognizing the unique needs of our region, this bipartisan legislation supports water conservation, strengthens rural economies, and helps ensure the next generation can thrive in agriculture,” said Rod Lenz, President of the Republican River Water Conservation District. “We appreciate our lawmakers’ continued leadership and commitment to working with producers to protect our most vital resource: water.”

“We support creating flexibility in the CREP program to reflect local environmental conditions and to meet unique regional conservation goals,” said Chad Franke, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union President. “These modifications will allow farmers and rural economies to better manage our most precious resource, water. We thank Senators Bennet, Marshall, Hickenlooper, and Moran as well as Representative Boebert for hearing our concerns and for bringing forward the CREP Improvement Act.”

The full text of the bill can be found HERE.

Background:

The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) Improvement Act addresses the unfair payment structure currently used by USDA to compensate ranchers and farmers who have voluntarily retired farmland from production to meet conservation goals and concerns. The bill also expands the types of crops that can be retired and eligible for CREP payments as well as increasing flexibility for how ranchers and farmers can utilize dryland CREP acreage where appropriate.

The CREP Improvement Act includes: 

• Explicitly directing USDA to allow dryland agricultural uses on CREP acreage where appropriate;
• Specifically adding dryland crop production and grazing to the list of appropriate conservation practices for the CREP program;
• Allowing continuous cropping systems, like alfalfa, to be eligible for drought and water conservation CREP agreements; 
• Ensuring fairer payments to producers by stipulating that annual payments for drought and water conservation CREP agreements will be equal to the difference between the irrigated acre payment rates and the dryland acre payment rates, as determined by USDA. And ensuring that any drought and water conservation agreement that includes the permanent retirement of a water right receives the full irrigated acre payment rate; 
• Making the payment formula retroactive for existing drought and water conservation agreements;
• Letting producers choose their payment allocations under the program, instead of a fixed payment per year for the 10-15 year contract period; and 
• Waiving CREP payments from the $50,000 annual payment limitation under the Conservation Reserve Program.

Supportive stakeholders include the Republican River Water Conservation District, the Colorado Farm Bureau, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, and the Rio Grande Water Conservation District.

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