Grassland CRP Signup 205 Overview

FSA offered a signup under Grassland Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) that began on  April 17 and ended May 26, 2023. Ranking factors have been updated from previous signups.

Read our April 17, 2023 news release.

---

Ranking Land Offered for Grassland CRP

Interested participants may submit an offer with FSA during the signup ranking period. These offers will be ranked and reviewed after the signup deadline to determine which offers can be approved using applicable grassland CRP ranking factors. FSA collects data for each of the ranking factors based on the relative benefits for the land offered. Each eligible offer is ranked in comparison to all other eligible offers and selections for acceptance are made from that ranking.

FSA uses the following ranking factors, including:

• Existence of expiring CRP or expiring GRP;
• Existing Small Livestock Operation;
• Existing Grassland;
• Existing Multi-species cover and predominance of native species;
• State Focus Area (land-based) determined in consultation with State Technical Committee;
• Applicant is an eligible Beginning, Veteran, Limited Resource or Socially Disadvantaged farmer or rancher;
• Cost, and;
• Other factors as determined by FSA.

---

Small Livestock Operations

Small livestock operations with 100 or fewer grazing dairy cows or equivalent can submit applications to enroll up to 200 acres per farm.

Animal Kind/Class	Animal Unit Equivalent
Beef/Buffalo/Dry Dairy Cow	1.00
Dairy Cow	1.40
Beef/Dairy/Buffalo Bulls	1.50
Calf	0.30
Heifer	0.86
Yearling Cattle	0.65

---

Eligible Producers

A producer must have owned or operated the land for at least 12 months prior to closing the CRP enrollment period, unless:

• The new owner acquired the land due to the previous owner’s death;
• The ownership change occurred due to foreclosure where the owner exercised a timely right of redemption in accordance with state law; or
• The circumstances of the acquisition present adequate assurance to FSA that the new owner did not acquire the land for the purpose of placing it in CRP.

---

Eligible Land

Land currently must be planted to a grass cover.

---

Rental Payments

In return for following an approved CRP conservation plan, FSA provides annual rental payments to participants based on 75 percent of the NASS estimated pastureland rental rate as determined by FSA for the life of the agreement. New for signup 205 there is a minimum rental rate of $13.00.

---

Cost-Share Assistance

FSA provides cost-share assistance to participants who establish approved practices on eligible land in an amount that is not more than 50 percent of the participants’ costs in establishing approved practices.

Grassland CRP National Priority Zones

To identify areas afflicted with increased environmental concerns and prioritize enrollment, two grassland CRP national priority zone have been established to provide an incentive for enrolling grassland CRP contracts in environmentally sensitive areas. Offers within one of these zones will receive an additional 15 ranking points and $5.00 per acre if at least 50 percent of the offer is located in the zone.

Grassland CRP National Priority Zone MAP