Farmers and farm owners who are interested in the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program may want to take the CREEP farm tour on March 31. The CREEP tour is scheduled to leave the Butler Farm Show grounds at 8:30 a.m., with registration at 8 a.m. Plans are for the bus to return around 12:30 p.m. for a complimentary lunch.

The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy is sponsoring the tour to promote CREEP in the Ohio River watershed.

Participants on the tour will have the opportunity to view several conservation practices. They will be able to see first hand how some farmers utilized CREEP.

Some of the farm stops scheduled include William McIntire, David Kellogg, Hemmerlin Brothers, Leslie Hall, Smith Incredibull and Dale Blain farms. The farm stops will center on the CREEP activities completed and provide ideas for participants to take home to their farms.

Although CREEP does not fit every farm, participants may be surprised at how lucrative CREEP can be, especially for buffer practices. For those unfamiliar with CREEP, the program is a voluntary conservation plan that rewards producers and landowners for installing conservation practices on their land, and offers up to 100 percent cost share reimbursement for installation, annual rental payments and cash incentives.

One key factor for CREEP eligibility is that landlord/tenant provisions must be met. This means landowners cannot remove a tenant for the purpose of CREEP enrollment, the exception being that the tenant is leaving voluntarily without coercion from the landowner and signs a statement.

Locally, CREEP has been a popular program with over 500 requests so far, with 200 contracts approved, the difference being ineligible, withdrawn and contracts pending status. CREEP contracts are for 10 or 15 years. The average rental rate for all three counties served is $100 per acre.

The three most popular practices have been sod waterways, riparian buffers and highly erodible cropland as cool or warm season grasses. CREEP land may not be harvested or grazed during the contract period.

Annual rental payments are issued each year in October. CREEP is not designed for flat land unless it is within 180 feet of a stream. CREEP is better designed for environmentally sensitive acreage.

Many producers have enrolled acreage that is steep or hard to get to; marginally productive land is ideal. Considering crop input costs this year and the probability of high operating costs in the future, CREEP may be a good choice for some fields. It would be difficult to generate a $100 per acre profit on most field crops. CREEP conservation practices include the following:

CP1

• Cool Season Grass*

CP2

• Native Grass*

CP 4D

• Wildlife Habitat*

CP 8A

• Grassed Waterway

CP 9

• Shallow Water Area

CP 10

• Established Grass*

CP 12

• Wildlife Food Plots*

CP 15A

• Contour Grass Strips

CP21

• Filter Strip

CP22

• Forested Riparian Buffer

CP23

• Wetland Restoration

CP29

• Marginal Pastureland Wildlife Habitat

CP 30

• Marginal Pastureland Wetland Buffer

*Denotes practices for Highly Erodible Land

In summary, anyone who wants to go on the free CREEP tour can register by calling the FSA office at 724-482-4800, Ext. 2 or 724-775-2369, Ext. 2 by Friday to reserve a spot.

Luke Fritz is executive director of the Butler County Farm Service Agency.