Too Late For Release Of CRP Acreage

Dow Jones Newswires said agriculture Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner said even if the Bush administration were to release idled farm land from the conservation reserve program (CRP) now, there would not be enough time for farmers to plant corn on it this year.

There might still be time for farmers to plant winter wheat on CRP land if the USDA decides soon to allow it, but even that would be a tight timeframe.  “That winter wheat would need to be . . . planted in September, which means the field prep for that would have to begin quite a bit ahead of that,” Conner said.

Conner’s remarks come amid speculation that the USDA might drop early withdrawal penalties and allow land owners out of the idling program to counter an expected drop in production from flood- ravaged states like Iowa.