Julie Quick (202) 720-4623

Jillene Johnson (202) 720-9733

VENEMAN ANNOUNCES ADDITION OF ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE LAND TO
CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM

WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 26, 2004 -- Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman
today announced that the USDA will accept 1.188 million acres of the
nation's most environmentally sensitive land into the Conservation
Reserve Program (CRP), the nation's premier program for protecting
fragile natural resources and enhancing the environment. The 2002 Farm
Bill authorized CRP enrollment up to 39.2 million acres.

"President Bush is committed to conservation programs that provide
incentives for farmers and ranchers to strengthen environmental
stewardship of their lands,\" said Veneman. \"This program gives
producers additional resources to reduce topsoil erosion, increase
wildlife habitat and improve air and water quality on these lands."

In August, President Bush announced several initiatives to help achieve
full enrollment of the Conservation Reserve Program. Among them were the
Bobwhite Quail Habitat Initiative, an expanded Wetland Restoration
Initiative, a *Federal Register* Notice seeking public comment on CRP
implementation, and a general CRP sign-up, running from Aug. 30, 2004,
through Sept. 24, 2004. The *Federal Register* Notice has been published
and sign-up started on Oct. 1, 2004, for both the Bobwhite Quail
Initiative and the Wetlands Restoration Initiative. Today, USDA is
announcing the results of the general sign-up.

First established by Congress in 1985, the CRP allows eligible farmers
and ranchers to voluntarily establish long-term conservation practices
on highly erodible and environmentally sensitive cropland. In exchange,
they receive 10 to 15 years of annual rental payments and cost-share
assistance for maintaining those practices.

For this 29th sign-up, USDA selected 1.188 million acres of the 1.672
million acres offered. This is one of the highest acceptance rates in
the history of CRP, as 76 percent of the bids offered were accepted.
These are the most fragile of the cropland acres offered considering the
environmental benefits of the CRP.

In the CRP selection process, Veneman said the Environmental Benefits
Index (EBI), which ranks CRP offers based on five environmental factors
as well as a cost factor, has been updated to reflect the addition of
carbon sequestration. The environmental factors are: 1) soil erosion; 2)
water quality; 3) enduring benefits; 4) air quality; and 5) wildlife
enhancement.

All offers were ranked on the same basis and offers with an EBI score of
at least 248 were considered acceptable for enrollment. The average
environmental benefits score of this sign-up is 287.

The average rental rate per acre was \$50.24 providing annual rental
payments of approximately \$60 million to farmers for the 1.188 million
acres. This additional acreage raises the total acreage in the CRP to
35.6 million acres.

USDA received just over 26,000 offers for enrollment during the August
30 to September 24, 2004 sign-up time frame and accepted 19,732. Offers
accepted under this sign-up may become effective either on Oct. 1, 2005,
or in the following year on Oct. 1, 2006, whichever the producer
chooses.

The CRP offers accepted by state are as follows:

STATE-Number of Offers Submitted-Number of Acres Offered-Number of
Offers Accepted-Number of Acres Accepted

ALABAMA-311-12244.2-260-10506.3

ARKANSAS-163-9087-140-7536.8

CALIFORNIA-15-2849.6-13-2608.1

COLORADO-713-118699.6-610-98200.3

DELAWARE-2-26.5-0-0

FLORIDA-42-1767.4-41-1732

GEORGIA-246-9129.9-203-7658.9

IDAHO-258-22461.3-199-14140.3

ILLINOIS-2402-51808.7-1681-36273.7

INDIANA-774-16955.4-554-11750.9

IOWA-2290-71771.3-1969-61134.8

KANSAS-3491-265373.6-3172-239950.4

KENTUCKY-382-13655.6-320-11698.7

LOUISIANA-206-9988.9-204-9894.7

MAINE-33-1336.6-11-472.3

MARYLAND-33-558.1-19-258.4

MASSACHUSETTS-1-24.1-0-0

MICHIGAN-949-29388.7-552-16467.7

MINNESOTA-1492-38600.5-1253-33207

MISSISSIPPI-539-29441.4-424-23957.6

MISSOURI-1194-57325.5-1039-49745.8

MONTANA-1156-216974.9-549-105295.9

NEBRASKA-1513-87777.7-1229-64692

NEW JERSEY-3-59.3-3-59.3

NEW MEXICO-9-1782.4-9-1782.4

NEW YORK-176-5686.8-97-2782.7

NORTH CAROLINA-286-5519.5-240-4793.8

NORTH DAKOTA-1027-90009.7-344-26402.4

OHIO-906-21400.3-616-13263.8

OKLAHOMA-465-40852.3-411-35542.4

OREGON-139-29221.7-129-28230.2

PENNSYLVANIA-65-1747-41-1067.9

SOUTH CAROLINA-95-2616.7-71-1896.4

SOUTH DAKOTA-747-51449.4-477-30157.1

TENNESSEE-330-9994.7-268-8037.6

TEXAS-1391-198250-828-112698.9

UTAH-43-7238.5-30-3936

VIRGINIA-128-2694.5-99-2340.5

WASHINGTON-680-102242.9-581-83940.6

WISCONSIN-1380-32851-1045-23521.7

WYOMING-5-1185.3-1-321.1

Total-26,080-1,672,048.5-19,732-1,187,957.4

Acreage Reserved for Other CRP Initiatives

The 2002 Farm Bill authorized USDA to expand the CRP enrollment up to
39.2 million acres from the previous cap of 36.4 million acres. Of the
total amount available, about 3.0 million acres are reserved for special
initiatives within CRP, including:

-   A continuous sign-up program, which provides an effective, ongoing
    means to protect the most environmentally sensitive land;

-   Planting flood plains to bottomland hardwood trees to help sequester
    greenhouse gases, improve water quality and restore wildlife
    habitat;

-   The Bobwhite Quail Initiative that allows for enrollment of field
    borders to provide valuable habitat for quail and other upland
    birds;

-   The Wetlands Initiative that allows enrollment of larger wetland
    complexes and playa lakes beyond the 100 year floodplain;

-   The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), which is a
    federal-state partnership to target additional resources in defined
    geographic areas for conservation practices such as buffer and
    filter strips; and

-   The Farmable Wetland Program to protect certain farmed and prior
    converted wetlands.

"These special initiatives are particularly helpful in targeting the
program to the most pressing environmental needs," Veneman said. "The
CREP also is a great example of federal-state partnerships whereby our
combined resources can help improve water quality and provide other
amenities for both rural and urban people."

More detailed information on the 29th general sign-up and on the CRP is
available on FSA's Web site at:
[www.fsa.usda.gov/dafp/cepd/crpinfo.htm]{.underline}.

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