Resource information
The uncertain future of the Conservation Reserve Program has created substantial interestfor agricultural producers, rural businesses, community leaders, sportsmen, and wildlifeorganizations. Many regions of the upper Great Plains have participated heavily in the CRP asevidenced by program acreage reaching land enrollment limits; however, current enrollment andre-enrollment criterion are expected to substantially reduce CRP acreage in many parts of theGreat Plains. The divergence of interests between pursing post-CRP lands for agriculturalproduction versus retaining the wildlife habitat and wildlife populations supported on CRP landspresents land owners and agricultural producers with important land management decisions overthe next several years. This research examines the regional economic implications of post-CRPland use among traditional agricultural uses, wildlife production, and multiple-use practices. Ofparticular interest is whether multiple-use management on post-CRP lands can produce similarreturns to landowners and producers as traditional land uses, and determine the effects ofmultiple-use management on post-CRP lands on regional economic output. A multiple-usesystem implemented on post-CRP lands based primarily on beef grazing while producing cornand barley for forage and retaining a portion of acreage in dedicated wildlife habitat would notcompete economically with other conventional land uses. The net change in gross receiptswithin the regional economy from agricultural uses of post-CRP lands exceeded lost recreationalexpenditures in all scenarios evaluated.
