Pollinator new CRP practice

The Bourbon County Fair is coming up next week, the swim team has already completed all four of its scheduled meets in the new pool complex, most of the local baseball/softball leagues are in the final few weeks of league play and the hot and dry reality of 2012 blasts through another week. Another memorable summer for sure.

(Program note: Monday, July 16, is the deadline to timely file an acreage report for this year. Call ahead for an appointment at (620) 223-1880.)

This summer also marks the addition of a new Conservation Reserve Program "practice" to the available options within this broadly popular program.

Pollinator habitats, which support a variety of pollinator species, will now be accepted as a Continuous Sign-up Conservation Reserve Program practice.

CCRP is a voluntary program that helps producers apply conservation practices to safeguard environmentally sensitive land.

Pollinator habitats are areas of permanent vegetation located in an agricultural landscape: Field edges, field middles, odd corners or any agricultural location that is suitable for establishing pollinator habitat.

Planting a pollinator on CRP was available in the past as a component of other general sign-up practices, but now is a stand-alone practice that can be installed without an accompanying grass seeding.

Pollinators provide a very important ecological service. Approximately three quarters of all flowering plants rely upon external assistance to pollinate their flowers.

In addition to agricultural crops such as fruit and many vegetables, these plants include seed producing wildflowers, fruit producing shrubs and nut producing trees which provide a source of food for many wildlife species.

Studies indicate that birds, bees, bats and other pollinators are in significant decline across the country and around the world. Nearly 80 percent of the crops grown in the world require pollination. In the United States, insects pollinate crops that produce $40 billion worth of products annually.

Participants in newly enrolled pollinator habitat practices are eligible to receive a $150 CRP Sign-up Incentive Payment per acre in addition to the contracted annual rental payment.

The SIP is a one-time payment issued to CRP participants after the contract is approved. The following practices qualify for the $150 SIP: Wetland restorations, pollinators and upland bird habitat.

The SIP for all other continuous sign-up practices remains unchanged at $100 per acre.

Continuous CRP sign-up allows participants to submit offers for selected CCRP practices to enroll in CRP at any time instead of waiting for a general CRP sign-up period. Participants and offered lands must meet certain eligibility requirements to be accepted into the program.

For more information about the continuous conservation reserve program, contact your local FSA office or visit www.fsa.usda.gov.