Minnesota Water Quality 

and Habitat

Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)

Overview

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

and the State of Minnesota are partners in 

implementing a voluntary Conservation 

Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) to 

enroll up to 60,000 acres in eligible 

counties. The Minnesota Water Quality and 

Habitat CREP is intended to improve water 

quality, reduce soil erosion, reduce the 

amount of sediment, phosphorous and 

other pollutants entering waterbodies and 

create and improve habitat for terrestrial 

and aquatic wildlife. 

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, 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, 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 Minnesota Water Quality and 

Habitat CREP, federal and state resources 

are made available to program participants 

to voluntarily enroll eligible land in CRP 

contracts for 14 to 15-years. Participants 

remove cropland from agricultural 

production and convert the land to filter 

strips, native grasses and forbs or restore 

wetlands.

This will improve water quality, reduce soil 

erosion, reduce the amount of sediment, 

phosphorous and other pollutants entering 

waterbodies and improve wildlife habitat.

Goals

The goals of the Minnesota Water Quality 

and Habitat CREP are to:

• Reduce sediments, nutrients and

agricultural chemicals entering

watercourses;

• Improve habitat foraquatic and terrestrial

wildlife; and

• Restore wetlands.

Eligible Conservation

Practices

The following specific CRP 

conservation practices are available:

• CP2, Establishment of Permanent

Native Grasses

• CP21, Filter Strips

• CP23, Wetland Restoration

• CP23A, Wetland Restoration,

Non-Floodplain

For More Information

This fact sheet is provided for 

informational purposes only; 

other restrictions or requirements 

may apply. For more information 

on CREP, contact your local FSA 

office. 

To find your local service center 

and USDA Farm Service Agency 

office: farmers.gov/servicelocator. To learn more about FSA 

conservation programs, visit www.

fsa.usda.gov/conservation.

DECEMBER 2022 fsa.usda.gov

Enrollment 

and Eligibility 

Requirements

Enrollment in CRP through the 

Minnesota Water Quality and Habitat 

CREP is on a continuous basis. To be 

eligible, land must be located in the 

project area and be cropland. Cropland 

must meet cropping history criteria and 

be physically and legally capable of 

being planted in a normal manner to 

an agricultural commodity.

Practice CP2 is only eligible within 

certain approved wellhead protection 

areas. The minimum width for practice 

CP21 is 30 feet. 
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. fsa.usda.gov

CONSERVATION RESERVE ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM 2

Enrollment 

and Eligibility 

Requirements

(Continued)

To be eligible for enrollment in the 

Minnesota Water Quality and Habitat 

CREP, land must also be enrolled in 

the State of Minnesota’s Reinvest in 

Minnesota (RIM) Reserve perpetual 

conservation easement program. 

Offers will be evaluated, scored and 

ranked by the state to determine 

acceptance for enrollment in the RIM 

Reserve perpetual conservation 

easement program. The State of 

Minnesota will not accept any offer of 

less than eight total acres for 

enrollment in the RIM Reserve 

perpetual conservation easement 

program unless certain criteria are met.

Payments

Under the Minnesota Water Quality 

and Habitat CREP, eligible participants 

may receive the following payments:

• A cost-share payment of up to 50

percent of the eligible cost to

install the approved practice.

• A one-time signing incentive

payment (SIP) of $10 per acre for

installing practice CP21; and $15

per acre for installing practices

CP23 and CP23A, not to exceed

10 years.

• A one-time practice incentive

payment (PIP) equal to 40

percent of the total eligible cost of

installing the practice CP2, CP21,

CP23 and CP23A.

• An annual rental payment

consisting of:

• A base soil rental rate,

determined by the soils of the

eligible land offered; and

• An incentive payment, as a

percentage of the base soil

rental rate, of 60 percent.

In addition, the State of Minnesota 

provides the following payments:

• A one-time RIM Reserve

perpetual conservation

easement program payment in

an amount equal to the result of

subtracting the landowner’s

share of the total CRP annual

rental payments over the full

duration of the CRP contract

from the amount of the RIM

Reserve perpetual conservation

easement program payment the

landowner would have received

for enrolling the land into a

perpetual easement under the

RIM Reserve perpetual

conservation easement program

without regard to this CREP or

CRP; and

• A cost-share payment equal to

the eligible cost of installing the

approved conservation practice,

minus the cost-share and PIP

paid for such practice by USDA.

Enrollment Options

CREP is another option under CRP 

that producers may select to enhance 

their land. 

Eligible producers may still enroll 

eligible land in CRP through general 

or continuous signup; however, the 

Minnesota Water Quality and Habitat 

CREP provides additional benefits 

not available through the general 

and/or continuous signup. Under the 

Minnesota Water Quality and Habitat 

CREP, producers receive higher 

incentive payments and longer 

contract lengths that increase the 

total amount of payments received.

Haying and Grazing

Haying and grazing are not allowed 

during the CRP contract period 

unless authorized by USDA. Contact 

your local FSA office for more 

information about authorized haying 

and grazing activities.