05/09/08 NRCS getting CRP planting inquiries

As grain prices rise landowners are looking at ways they can find more acres for crops. The Natural Resources Conservation Service says those farmers have to look at the impact of putting grassland or idled land into crops. Rich Sims is the Idaho State conservationists who says first things first. SIMS "Find out if the acreage is considered highly erodible by the 1985 farm bill and if it is considered highly erodible then they need to bring it into production by following the conservation plan." Sims is encouraging farmers to visit with the Farm Service Agency and then NRCS to develop a plan and then follow it. SIMS "And the important thing on this is they have to implement that plan immediately. They don't get a time frame like they did between '85 and '90 to work into a conservation plan because the '90-95 farm bill created it so that any highly erodible land after '95 has to be implemented when you start farming." Failure to follow such a plan could put producers at risk on the commodity credit portion of the farm bill. There are 800 thousand acres in Idaho now idled under the CRP program but one quarter of that expires between now and 2010. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott