Automatic CRP Enrollment Challenged

WASHINGTON - Jun 27/05 - SNS -- The 22 million acres of U.S. land which is now enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) under contracts scheduled to expire in 2007-08 should not be automatically reenrolled, says the Alliance for Agricultural Growth and Competitiveness (AAGC).

Instead, enrollment should be subject to competition to ensure only the most environmentally sensitive land is enrolled in long-term CRP contracts in the future.

"Doing otherwise will place even greater economic pressure on major sectors of U.S. agriculture that are heavily dependent upon competitive supplies of grains and oilseeds," the group asserts, "including animal agriculture producers, particularly given the ever-greater demand on available stocks being created by such legislative mandates as agricultural-based renewable fuels."

Bill Roenigk, senior vice president of the National Chicken Council, said, "We encourage an approach that reflects the Bush administration's commitment to free enterprise and support for U.S. agricultural economic growth."

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