Robert Bonomi wrote:

....
Pulling land out of CRP is a *short*term* only 'fix'. *SMART* farm
production involves carefully designed rotation of crops planted on a
given plot *AND* the cycling of that land _out_of_production_use_ as a
regular element in that rotation. *MOST* CRP acres are land that would
be 'idled' even if CRP didn't exist.

The last of those is definitely not true...well over half of the
county in which I reside is now in CRP (including a sizable fraction of
ours). The reason is only that it was an available option at a time
when a significant number of those farming it were, as my Dad, at the
age of retirement and the kids (including me) had left owing to various
factors, a lot having to do w/ the great "land depression" after the
Carter era grain embargoes that killed the small grain export markets.

You get more acres in production, *BUT*, over time (meaning 5 years, or
*less*), due to degraded land quality from continuous use, yield/acre goes
_down_. The effective increase in production is nowhere close to the
increased acreage.

No, the average production of the similar land still in production has
actually increased dramatically since the time of the initial CRP
put-ins. This is owing to continuing improvements in genetics as well
as practices. Low- and no-till has had marked success in actually
improving tilth as opposed to degrading it combined w/ decreasing
inputs. Of course, the cultivation cycle does include rotation,
including fallow periods. This is a mandatory part of an effective pest
control strategy even without the consideration of fertility.

There is no chance that any significant numbers of people living on
and farming it for a living will not continue to improve practices, not
degrade them. It is economically required to survive as well as common
sense. Plus, if my input requirements were to skyrocket owing to such
practice, my friendly hometown banker would immediately demand to know
why and put a stop to my endangering his collateral!

I've not and do not advocate widespread removal of CRP ground--I only
mentioned it as it is there in quite large acreages and could, if
circumstances were right, be returned to production. If the 2007 farm
bill reduces the payout as much again as the last time, I think it will
be inevitable that a sizable amount will be broken back out as it will
not be feasible economically to maintain it with it not producing more
than it would be at that point. I'm hoping it won't, but making long
term plans just in case...