07/31/08 CRP early out decision not necessarily the final one

Farm and Ranch July 31, 2008 Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer announced this week the USDA has decided not to allow the early release of acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program without penalty to land owners. The Secretary's statement also included the phrase "at this time." So does the "at this time" mean this is not necessarily the final decision on CRP early out for 2009 crops? Secretary Shafer was asked that question during a teleconference. Schafer: "We said we would look at this again for the 09 crop in August or September. We moved that up because conditions are constantly changing. They are going to continue to constantly change. We are going to continue to evaluate the situation. As I mentioned we are making this call at this time. I think it is the appropriate call. If something changes in the future we may be back revisiting the issue." The flooding in the Midwest this spring had raised concerns about corn and soybean supplies but USDA is forecasting the second largest corn crop ever. And as USDA deputy administrator for farm programs John Johnson pointed out, most CRP acres aren't in the cornbelt anyway. Johnson: "I think it is a fair assumption of the 1.1 million acres for example that are expiring this year that the majority of those will be in wheat producing areas and a somewhat lesser amount in the corn soybean area, but that is just a generalization." USDA officials say with contracts expiring and a reduced limit on the size of the CRP in the farm bill, CRP acres will be shrinking anyway. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.