North Carolina

Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)

Overview

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

and the State of North Carolina are partners 

in implementing a voluntary Conservation 

Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) to 

enroll up to 100,000 acres of agricultural 

land in the Neuse, Tar-Pamlico, Chowan, 

Lumber, White Oak, Yadkin-PeeDee, Cape 

Fear (including Jordan Lake), Roanoke, and 

Pasquotank River basins which includes 

all or a portion of the following counties: 

Alamance, Alexander, Anson, Beaufort, 

Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Cabarrus, 

Caldwell, Camden, Carteret, Caswell, 

Chatham, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, 

Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Davidson, 

Davie, Duplin, Durham, Edgecombe, 

Forsyth, Franklin, Gates, Granville, Greene, 

Guilford, Halifax, Harnett, Hertford, Hoke, 

Hyde, Iredell, Johnston, Jones, Lee, Lenoir, 

Martin, Montgomery, Moore, Nash, New 

Hanover, Northampton, Onslow, Orange, 

Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, 

Person, Pitt, Randolph, Richmond, Robeson, 

Rockingham, Rowan, Sampson, Scotland, 

Stanly, Stokes, Surry, Tyrrell, Union, Vance, 

Wake, Warren, Washington, Watauga, 

Wayne, Wilkes, Wilson and Yadkin.

The purpose of the North Carolina CREP 

is to improve water quality, reduce soil 

erosion, reduce the amount of sediment, 

phosphorous and other pollutants entering 

waterbodies, improve wildlife habitat and 

restore wetlands.

Background

CREP is part of the USDA Conservation 

Reserve Program (CRP). CRP is a federally 

funded 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 permanent, resource-conserving 

plant species, such as approved grasses or 

trees (known as “covers”) to control soil 

erosion, improve water quality and develop 

wildlife habitat. In return, the Farm Service 

Agency (FSA) provides participants with 

rental payments and cost-share assistance.

With CREP, high-priority conservation 

goals are identified by the state, and then 

federal funds are supplemented with nonfederal funds to achieve those goals.

Through the North Carolina CREP, federal 

and state resources are made available 

to program participants to voluntarily 

enroll in CRP for 10 to 15 year contracts. 

Participants remove cropland and marginal 

pastureland from agricultural production 

and convert the land to grasses, trees, 

or other approved vegetation, or restore 

wetlands. This will improve water quality 

by reducing sediment, nutrients, nitrogen 

and other pollutants from entering streams 

and rivers, and enhance wildlife habitat in 

the area. 

Goals

The goals of the North Carolina CREP are 

to:

 Reduce the amount of sediment, 

nitrogen, phosphorous and other 

pollutants from reaching streams and 

waterbodies

 Restore and protect wetlands 

 Restore and enhance riparian habitat 

corridors next to streams, drainage 

ditches, estuaries, wetlands, and other 

water courses by enrolling riparian 

forested buffers, grass filter strips and 

other riparian tree planting practices.

For More 

Information

Contact your local service 

center and USDA Farm 

Service Agency office: 

farmers.gov/servicelocator. 

North Carolina Farm 

Service Agency

4407 Bland Rd. Suite 190

Raleigh, NC 27609-6293

Phone: (919) 875-4800

Fax: (844) 325-6871

This fact sheet is provided 

for informational purposes 

only; other restrictions or 

requirements may apply. 

Consult your local FSA 

office for details. 

MAY 2022
CREP – NORTH CAROLINA 2

Eligible Conservation 

Practices

The following specific CRP 

conservation practices are available:

CRP Practices

CP3 Tree Planting, Shortleaf 

Pine

CP3A Hardwood Tree Planting

CP21 Filter Strips

CP22 Riparian Buffer

CP23 Wetland Restoration

CP23A Wetland Restoration, 

Non-Floodplain

CP31 Bottomland Timber 

Establishment on Wetlands

Enrollment 

And Eligibility 

Requirements

Enrollment in CRP through the North 

Carolina CREP is on a continuous basis. 

To be eligible, land must be located in 

North Carolina. Land must be located in 

the project area and be either cropland 

or marginal pastureland. Cropland must 

meet cropping history criteria according 

to current FSA National CRP Directives 

and be physically and legally capable 

of being planted in a normal manner 

to an agricultural commodity. Marginal 

pastureland along streams may also be 

eligible for enrollment.

Producers must enter into a permanent 

conservation agreement with the state 

for land to be eligible to be enrolled in 

the North Carolina CREP as CP23 or 

CP23A.

Producers must enter into a 30-year 

or permanent conservation agreement 

with the state for land enrolled in 

riparian areas under practices CP3, 

CP3A, CP21, CP22 and CP31 that are 

an average width greater than 100 

feet and total 10 acres or more per 

FSA tract. No conservation agreement 

is required when the land enrolled in 

the North Carolina CREP is less than 

10 acres.

Payments

Under the North Carolina CREP, 

eligible participants may receive the 

following payments:

An annual rental payment consisting 

of:

 A base soil rental rate determined 

by

(1) for cropland, the three 

predominant soils of the 

land offered; or 

(2) for marginal pastureland, 

the posted marginal 

pastureland rate for the 

county;

 An incentive payment, as a 

percentage of the base soil rental 

rate, as follows, except for land 

re-enrolled or land enrolled under 

infeasible to farm provisions:

y 70 percent for land 

established as CP21

y 100 percent for land 

established as CP3, CP3A, 

CP22, CP23, CP23A, and CP31

 A maintenance incentive 

payment for CP21 and CP22 

practices in accordance with FSA 

National CRP Directives 

Note: A maximum per-acre rental 

rate cap may be applied.

A cost-share payment of up to 50 

of the eligible cost to install the 

approved practice.

fsa.usda.gov
CREP – NORTH CAROLINA 3

Payments continued

In addition, the State of North Carolina 

provides the following payments to 

eligible participants:

 A cost-share payment of:

y 25 percent of the eligible 

reimbursable cost to install 

the approved conservation 

practice for producers who 

enroll solely in a 10-year CRP 

contract;

y 30 percent of the eligible 

reimbursable cost to install 

the approved conservation 

practice for producers who 

enroll solely in a 14-year to 

15-year CRP contract;

y 40 percent of the eligible 

reimbursable cost to install 

practice CP3, CP3A, CP21, 

CP22 or CP31, and enroll 

in a 30-year conservation 

agreement with the state; and

y 50 percent of the eligible 

reimbursable cost to install 

practice CP3, CP3A, CP22, 

CP23, CP23A or CP31, 

and enroll in a permanent 

conservation agreement with 

the state.

 A one-time incentive payment of 

$250 per acre for land enrolled 

in a 30-year easement with the 

state.

 A one-time incentive payment of 

$1,000 per acre for land enrolled 

in a permanent easement with 

the state.

Note: Not all state payments 

apply to re-enrolled land.

Enrollment Options

CREP is another option under CRP 

that farmers and ranchers may 

select to enhance their land. Eligible 

producers may still enroll land in 

CRP through general or continuous 

signup; however, the North Carolina 

CREP provides additional benefits 

not available through general and/or 

continuous signup. Under the North 

Carolina CREP, producers receive 

higher incentive payments and longer 

contract lengths that increase the total 

amount of rental payments received.

Haying And Grazing

Contact your local FSA office for more 

information about authorized haying 

and grazing activities.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. fsa.usda.gov