The Food Production and Conservation Mission Area and the Farm Service Agency work with partners on CRP assessments that quantify outcomes and inform policy. We encourage government agencies, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations to respond to these two opportunities with a brief pre-proposal by July 8, 2022:
- The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) establishes perennial cover on degraded cropland and safeguards grazing land under threat of conversion to cropland or developed uses. The program can facilitate the transition to sustainable grazing systems that benefit both the producer and wildlife. However, this opportunity may be missed if fields are minimally managed during enrollment and/or revert to crop production after contract expiration. Ranching operations that engage in regenerative agriculture may offer insights about how policy, planning, and outreach can better encourage these sustainable ranching systems. This project will involve a combination of field monitoring and interviews at ranching operations in at least three regions of the US familiar to CRP to assess impacts on the bottom line and ecosystem services, and reveal lessons learned and applicability to the program.
- Primary nesting season (PNS) refers to the nesting season of birds in the region that are economically significant, in significant decline, or conserved according to Federal or State law. PNS affects the timing and intensity of haying and grazing on land enrolled in the CRP. The USDA Farm Service Agency is seeking a social scientist or human dimensions expert with USDA private lands conservation program knowledge to conduct a thorough assessment of how PNS dates have been determined and set across the US and their relationship to management activities on CRP. The project will culminate in the development of more feasible, agreeable, and scientifically defensible alternatives to current policy and processes.
Pre-proposals must be uploaded to 2022 CRP Assessment Proposals by July 8, 2022. The pre-proposal should be no more than 4 pages and summarize the following elements: project objectives and methods, qualifications, timeline, and budget.
Up to $500k is available for assessment A and $250k for assessment B. The merit/technical selection criteria to be applied to the pre-proposals include suitability to assessment need, potential to lead to meaningful change, team qualifications, and cost.
Please direct questions about this opportunity to Rich Iovanna, rich.iovanna@USDA.gov, with 2022 CRP Assessment Question on the subject line.