WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today that 1.78 million acres have been accepted into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) for 2025. The announcement highlights a successful enrollment period for the program, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
According to the USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), the CRP currently has about 25.8 million acres enrolled nationwide. The program encourages landowners, farmers, and ranchers to convert marginal or unproductive cropland into vegetative cover voluntarily. This practice helps improve water quality, prevent soil erosion, and restore wildlife habitats. The Grassland CRP option also allows participants to conserve grasslands while continuing most grazing and haying activities.
FSA Administrator Bill Beam noted that the high number of enrollments shows that agricultural producers are committed to preserving natural resources.
The FSA received offers for more than 2.6 million acres of land. The total acreage for the fiscal year 2025 is capped at 27 million acres. With only 1.8 million acres available for enrollment—after accounting for expiring land and an administrative reserve—the process was highly competitive. About 955,795 acres are set to expire on September 30. Producers submitted offers to re-enroll just over 624,000 acres, and offers for new land totaled 2 million acres.
Kansas, South Dakota, and Colorado had the highest number of accepted acres for all 2025 CRP enrollments. The American Relief Act, 2025, extended the CRP’s provisions through September 30, 2025.
The CRP was signed into law in 1985 and is one of the largest voluntary private-lands conservation programs in the U.S.. Focused initially on controlling soil erosion and stabilizing commodity prices, the program has evolved to provide a wide range of benefits for both conservation and the economy.
