Policy Options for the Conservation Reserve Program in a Low‐Carbon
by Justin S. Baker, et al. (Duke University) Emerging markets and a rapidly evolving agricultural industry will strongly impact the implementation of conservation programs in the United States. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is the nation’s largest and most successful land conservation program, making it a good test case to evaluate current drivers of landowner behavior and future policy options. Furthermore, the lessons learned in the case of the CRP can be applied to other land‐based incentive programs that could emerge through policies aimed at creating a low‐carbon economy. Commodity prices and land rents rapidly increased in 2007 and 2008. While prices have stabilized to an extent, emerging policy‐driven pressures on agricultural markets signal future commodity market volatility and a concern that higher price regimes will pressure agricultural development on ecologically sensitive lands. Rental payments under the CRP that once provided the benefits of certainty and steady income now come with greater opportunity cost. Withdrawal of lands from the CRP for recultivation could have significant effects on water quality, wildlife habitat, and carbon storage.
To guard against widespread CRP reversion and to preserve its environmental benefits, we propose several policy options that can simultaneously stem the loss of CRP acreage while staying true to the program’s conservation mission. These options include
1) allowing selected perennial biofuel feedstocks to be produced on CRP land,
2) the incorporation of carbon offset value into CRP rental payments and bid acceptance criteria, and
3) authorizing landowners to sell carbon offsets generated on CRP lands.
Consistent with each of these policy options is an effort to make conservation program participation complementary to other landowner objectives. READ MORE
