CONSERVATION

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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

FARM SERVICE AGENCY FACT SHEET April 2015

Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program – Mississippi Delta CREP

OVERVIEW

USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), Commodity 

Credit Corporation (CCC), and the state of 

Mississippi are partners in implementing a 

voluntary Conservation Reserve Enhancement 

Program (CREP) to increase the bottomland 

hardwood acres and restore wetlands within 

targeted watersheds in the Lower Mississippi 

Alluvial Valley. 

 

The Mississippi Delta CREP project area includes 

all land within Bolivar, Coahoma, Issaquena, 

Holmes, Humphreys, Leflore, Sharkey, Sunflower, 

Tallahatchie, Washington and Yazoo counties.

BACKGROUND

CREP is a division of the USDA Conservation 

Reserve Program (CRP). CRP is a federallyfunded voluntary program that contracts with 

agricultural producers so that environmentally 

sensitive agricultural land is not farmed or 

ranched, but instead used for conservation benefits. 

CRP participants establish long-term, resourceconserving plant species, such as approved grasses 

or trees (known as “covers”) to control soil erosion, 

improve water quality and develop wildlife habitat. 

In return, FSA provides participants with rental 

payments and cost-share assistance. Contract 

duration is between 10 and 15 years. In its 30th 

year, CRP is authorized by the Food Security Act 

of 1985 and was reauthorized by the Agricultural 

Act of 2014 (the 2014 Farm Bill).

Under CREP, high-priority conservation goals are 

identified by local, state, or tribal governments 

or non-governmental organizations, and federal 

funds are supplemented with non-federal funds to 

achieve those goals. 

The Mississippi Delta CREP project partners 

include The Nature Conservancy, Mississippi Soil 

and Water Conservation Districts, Delta F.A.R.M., 

Delta Wildlife, Entergy, Walton Family 

Foundation, Mississippi Department of 

Environmental Quality, Mississippi Soil and Water 

Conservation Commission, Mississippi State 

University, the Yazoo Water Management District, 

and Mississippi Department of Fisheries, Wildlife 

and Parks.

PROGRAM GOALS

Mississippi Delta CREP goals are to:

• Increase the native bottomland hardwood 

forest acreage;

• Reduce nutrient and sediment loadings in 

impaired streams, and; 

• Restore wetlands to serve as a habitat for 

several migratory waterfowl and shorebird 

species.

ELIGIBLE PRACTICES

The Mississippi CREP will seek to enroll up 

to 8,000 acres devoted to the following CRP 

practices:

• Riparian Buffers (CP22) 

• Wetland Restoration (CP23) 

• Bottomland Hardwood Establishment on 

Wetlands (CP31)

PAYMENTS AND INCENTIVES

CCC will pay 50 percent of the reimbursable costs 

of establishing conservation practices and a practice 

incentive payment that equals about 40 percent of 

the establishment cost. Annual rental payments will 

be based on the soil rental rate as calculated by FSA. 

In addition, an increased signing incentive payment 

of up to $300 per newly enrolled acre will be 

available to Mississippi Delta CREP participants. 
FACT SHEET

Mississippi Delta CREP April 2015

ELIGIBILITY

CREP applications must satisfy the basic eligibility 

criteria for CRP.

Participants must agree to establish and maintain 

eligible practices under a 14 or 15-year contract. 

Land located in eligible counties must have been 

cropped four of the previous six years (2008-2013) 

and be physically and legally capable of being 

cropped. 

SIGN-UP INFORMATION

CREP enrollment begins April 27, 2015, and 

operates on a continuous year-round basis. 

Interested parties are encouraged to contact the 

nearest USDA Service Center. 

MORE INFORMATION

For more information on the Mississippi Delta 

CREP, contact your local USDA Service Center, 

FSA office, or Soil and Water Conservation District 

office. To find your local FSA county office, click 

http://offices.usda.gov. To learn more about FSA 

conservation programs, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/

conservation. 

_____________________________________________

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits 

discrimination against its customers, employees, and 

applicants for employment on the bases of race, color, 

national origin, age, disability, sex, gender identity, 

religion, reprisal, and where applicable, political 

beliefs, marital status, familial or parental status, 

sexual orientation, or all or part of an individual’s 

income is derived from any public assistance program, 

or protected genetic information in employment or in 

any program or activity conducted or funded by the 

Department. (Not all prohibited bases will apply to 

all programs and/or employment activities.) Persons 

with disabilities, who wish to file a program complaint, 

write to the address below or if you require alternative 

means of communication for program information (e.g., 

Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) please contact 

USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and 

TDD). Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or 

have speech disabilities and wish to file either an EEO 

or program complaint, please contact USDA through 

the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339 or (800) 

845-6136 (in Spanish). 

If you wish to file a Civil Rights program complaint 

of discrimination, complete the USDA Program 

Discrimination Complaint Form, found online at http://

www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, or at 

any USDA office, or call (866) 632-9992 to request the 

form. You may also write a letter containing all of the 

information requested in the form. Send your completed 

complaint form or letter by mail to U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, Director, Office of Adjudication, 1400 

Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-

9410, by fax (202) 690-7442 or email at program.

intake@usda.gov. 

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

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