(NAFB) – The USDA is accepting offers for nearly 2.7 million acres from agricultural producers and private landowners in this year’s Grassland Conservation Reserve Program signup.

The program received a record-setting signup of 4.6 million acres in offers. The working lands program allows producers and landowners to continue grazing and haying practices while protecting grasslands and furthering the CRP’s impacts. “This year’s Grassland CRP signup demonstrates the continued popularity and success in voluntary, producer-led, working lands conservation programs,” says Zach Ducheneaux, Farm Service Agency Administrator. “Grassland CRP clearly demonstrates that conservation priorities and agricultural productivity can coexist, complement, and enhance one another.”

USDA had to accept fewer acres and a lower percentage of offers than in 2022 because the program has reached its acreage cap. “With the low number of future expiring acres, getting closer to the statutory cap of 27 million acres would hinder the ability to conduct future signups,” Ducheneaux adds.