The 2018 Farm Bill's statutory authority expired September 30, 2023, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Conservation Reserve Program remains without a clear path to new general sign-up enrollments, according to the Salina Post.

What does the lapse change for CRP contracts on the ground?

The Conservation Reserve Program pays farmers annual rental payments to remove environmentally sensitive cropland from production under contracts that historically run 10 to 15 years. Existing contracts continue to operate under their original terms during the lapse.

The lapse blocks USDA's Farm Service Agency from running a full general sign-up at the acreage scale previously authorized. Continuous sign-up for priority practices — filter strips, grassed waterways, riparian buffers, and other targeted conservation work — has continued under narrower permanent authorities.

Producers whose CRP contracts expire in 2024 or 2025 face uncertainty over whether expiring acres can be re-enrolled or whether new rental bids will be accepted once a successor bill is signed.

How big is the program in Kansas?

Kansas ranks among the top CRP states. Enrollment covers significant acreage in the western and central parts of the state — regions dominated by wheat, sorghum, and cow-calf operations where fragile soils and limited rainfall make set-aside contracts economically attractive. Salina sits at the edge of that corridor.

Nationwide, CRP enrollment has hovered near 23 million acres in recent years, down from a peak above 39 million acres in 2007 as successive Farm Bills tightened acreage caps and shifted emphasis to environmentally sensitive parcels and higher-priority practices.

What is the policy path forward?

Congress extended the 2018 Farm Bill through the end of fiscal 2024 as part of broader appropriations actions, giving Agriculture Committee negotiators additional time to draft a successor. Both the House and Senate Agriculture Committees have continued to mark up individual titles, but a full reauthorization has not cleared either chamber.

Without a new bill or further extension, the Conservation Reserve Program would face its most significant statutory gap in decades. Producers, cooperative crop advisers, and conservation groups are watching for clarity on 2025 sign-up rules, rental rate formulas, and practice incentive payments.

What downstream effects ripple through agribusiness?

Input suppliers, county FSA offices, and seed dealers that service CRP contracts — particularly retailers of native grass mixes, pollinator seed blends, and tree seedlings — feel the slowdown when enrollment timing slips. Custom drilling and cover-crop establishment services in central Kansas have also seen reduced demand tied to the enrollment pause.

What should growers watch next?

Key markers include any House-Senate conference committee report on the next Farm Bill, USDA's interim sign-up guidance, and rental rate announcements tied to new statutory language. Until those arrive, contract renewals on expiring acres remain on hold, leaving Kansas operators to weigh the rental math against 2024 commodity prices for wheat, sorghum, and cattle.