By Brian Hefty

Due to high commodity prices, we are again seeing many CRP acres going back into crop production.  By the way, if you think that ALL CRP is coming out, keep in mind that there are still over 26 million CRP acres left in the United States today.  That’s a lot!  In fact, the CRP left in the U.S. is more than the total area contained in Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and Vermont combined!

If your CRP is going back into production, here are the top 7 pieces of advice we have for you:

  1. Don’t do extensive tillage on this land.  Over the last few years, your soil’s organic matter has increased.  That’s awesome.  You now have a field that can hold more water and nutrients while suffering less from the effects of compaction and erosion.  If you have to do some leveling, do it as non-invasively as possible.  The more you can leave your soil structure in place, the better chance you have to raise great crops long-term.
  2. Prepare for insects.  You will most likely have more wireworms and white grubs on this land.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, you’ll probably have fewer bean leaf beetles and rootworms compared to your other fields.  I would strongly encourage you to treat your seed with insecticide, if it’s not treated already.  If white grubs are a major concern, you will need more insecticide than just a seed treatment to completely stop them.  Check with your agronomist to figure out the right product(s) for you, if necessary.
  3. Seed and seedling disease issues could be a concern, especially if you’re raising a grass crop.  Chances are your CRP consisted mostly of perennial grasses.  If you plant a grass crop like corn or wheat and you aren’t doing extensive tillage, you’ve done nothing to break the disease cycle.  This isn’t my biggest concern planting into CRP, but it is still occasionally a problem.  Just make sure your seed is treated with a good fungicide.
  4. If you want to plant a grass crop, use LOTS of nitrogen.  Because of all the organic material (I’m talking about plant residue here, not decomposed organic matter) on the soil surface and in the top couple inches of soil that is still breaking down, any applied nitrogen will probably go first toward that decomposition process instead of your crop.  Chances are you’ll need 50 to 100 additional pounds of nitrogen above normal.
  5. It’s probably easiest to plant Roundup Ready or LibertyLink soybeans into old CRP ground year one.  You won’t have to apply all that extra nitrogen (although 20 to 40 pounds of N wouldn’t be a bad idea).  You’ll also be able to more easily control any perennial grasses that come up during the season.  Just be sure to apply a very high burndown rate of Roundup BEFORE crop emergence.  Remember that you can only use 64 oz. total of PowerMAX during the year in-crop (that’s 3 quarts of 4# generic equivalent).  That may not be enough to stop your perennial grasses, but if you apply a burndown prior to emergence, you’ve still got 64 oz. left you can apply post-emerge.
  6. If you do plant soybeans, it’s a good idea to double-inoculate.  We’ve seen this pay off well for many farmers.  Keep in mind that inoculant only costs $1 to $2 an acre at a normal rate, so a double rate is no big expense.  However, since it has been many years since your field has had soybeans on it, it is definitely lacking in rhizobia bacteria that help soybeans produce their own nitrogen.
  7. Soil test and fertilize accordingly.  I have no idea if your ground needs a bunch of P, K, S, or micronutrients.  However, if you show me your soil test results, I can give you much better advice.

It is exciting farming a few more acres.  Putting CRP back into production can be a great thing, but it is certainly different than managing other crop land.  Good luck!