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This activity continued until the early 1980's, when overproduction and a strengthening U.S. dollar depressed prices, causing farm income to fall to it's lowest levels since the 1930's. (Pheasants Forever, par.5).
By this time, also, public concern had begun to grow over the damage caused by agricultural erosion and runoff water carrying sediment, nutrients, and chemicals into streams, rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water. (NRCS, 2001 p.16).
The USDA released studies at that time reporting that the Nation's cropland was eroding and suffering soil losses at a rate exceeding 3 billion tons a year. Wildlife was also being affected. Intensive farming and a widespread conversion of fallow land to production had destroyed vital habitats for many species, leading to declining populations. (USDA, 1999 p.13).
In 1985 Congress passed the Food Security Act (1985 Act) establishing the CRP program. A voluntary long-term land retirement program, the CRP provides farm and ranch owners, operators, and tenants with and annual per-acre rent, plus up to half the cost of establishing a permanent land cover (usually grass or trees) on highly erodible or environmentally sensitive cropland. CRP contracts are for terms of 10 to 15 years. The enrollment authorized in the 1985 act was 40-45 million acres. By the end of the 1990 crop year, USDA had enrolled 33.9 million acres. (USDA, 1999 P.13).
Today, the CRP accepts only the most environmentally sensitive land, yielding the greatest environmental benefits. The Environmental Benefits Index (EBI) is used to classify and rank land offered for enrollment in the program during a general sign-up. Scores are based on the expected environmental improvement in soil resources, water quality, wildlife habitat, and other resource concerns during the time the land is to be enrolled in the CRP. .
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Each offer submitted by a producer is assigned a point score based on its relative environmental benefits, and is compared nationally with all other offers.