Area farmers are facing some big decisions on what to do with their land as hundreds of thousands of acres of USDA Conservation Reserve Program contracts are due to expire in the next few months.

USDA personnel from the Farm Service Agency and the Natural Resources Conservation Service are in the latest stages of finalizing guidance and options for producers with expiring Conservation Reserve Program acres.

On July 8, personnel from both agencies in the Panhandle and South Plains regions met in Lubbock to discuss how to best serve farmers and ranchers for CRP land expiring from the program.

"With so many landowners coming into our offices seeking help, uniform guidance among agencies is critical for landowners and producers to make the best decisions for land that's coming out of the program," said Mickey Black, NRCS assistant state conservationist for field operations in Lubbock.

The bulk of the CRP acres are in the High Plains region of the state where there is significant concern about the future of the conservation on the land. According to FSA records, over 78,000 acres expired in 2008, with an additional 680,000 to be expired in October 2009, and over 507,000 acres in October 2010.

FSA State Executive Director Juan Garcia addressed 150 FSA and NRCS employees in the region. "Many producers are going to be faced with changes, and it's up to all of us to educate the general public and provide landowners with the options available to help them.

"This is a serious issue," said Garcia. "The NRCS and FSA offices are making a joint effort for a successful outcome."

According to Garcia, FSA will be able to restore crop acreage bases beginning in October 2010. Landowners need to be aware of this information because it will be a determining factor as they decide what they will do once their land expires from the program.

"Landowners have several options, including grazing or haying the existing grass cover, making enhancements to target wildlife, putting it back into production, or utilizing it for recreational purposes," said Black.

For long-term planning, producers will need to stay informed of the latest policies for farm programs and benefits that might affect them and their operations.

"We expect to see some producers choose to return their CRP fields back to annually tilled cropland production," said Don Gohmert, NRCS State Conservationist.

"Most of the acres in the CRP program are classified as Highly Erodible Land," said Gohmert. "This type of land is very susceptible to wind and water erosion."

NRCS and FSA will encourage producers to keep the permanent grass cover, however, in cases where landowners decide to plow up the grass; the NRCS will provide alternatives to help landowners understand the need to meet certain measures that ensure those acres will not erode beyond a level that the soil can tolerate.

These alternatives will help the producer apply the best management practices to meet conservation compliance requirements.

Conservation compliance, which began with the 1985 Farm Bill, is still in effect. Compliance means that farmers need to control erosion on highly erodible land, which includes CRP acres, in order to stay eligible for USDA program benefits, including farm loan programs, disaster assistance,