When the Conservation Reserve Program was established in 1985, millions of acres of marginal and highly erodable land were set aside, benefiting not only the land and landowner, but wildlife as well.

But with millions of acres coming out of contract in the next few years and the future of the program in question, many landowners are wondering what, if any, options are available.

In 2012, CRP is set to expire, leaving producers, conservation groups and hunters wondering what the short- and long-term impacts will be.

In the prairie states, CRP has been credited for a boom in the pheasant and deer populatations. Conservation groups like Ducks Unlimited say the program also has greatly benefited duck production in the Prairie Pothole Region.

A DU study showed nesting success of five common duck species increased 46 percent from 1992 to 1997 adding an estimated 12.4 million ducks to the fall migration. Similarly, the study showed the nesting success of pheasants in northcentral Iowa was 40 percent higher in large blocks of CRP than in smaller areas like fence lines and road ditches. Other wildlife like grassland songbirds could decline 17 percent if CRP acres are greatly reduced.

The program was a godsend to some farmers in the midst of the farm crisis of the '80s, providing annual payments for contracts between 10 and 20 years while helping them split the cost of planting cover grasses.

The reality is there are not many options available that will provide an annual payment for leaving land in grass cover.

Jim Jost, conservation program specialist for the Farm Service Agency, said an environmental impact study is now being conducted that might lead to another sign-up period. He said North Dakota has 2.7 million acres in CRP, down from the high of 3.4 million acres in 2007.

Instead of the annual payments which are tied to the cash rental rate of the land, many of the acres have gone back under the plow to crop land.

"It's always an economic decision," Jost said. "Are the returns better for annual cropping, their livestock operations ... farmers have to weigh the alternatives."

Years ago, Steve Hausauer took over his family's farm in northern Sheridan County. His family operation, which includes his wife, Dellrae, and four daughters, is spread across land which was seemingly made for the CRP.

Hilly, rocky and thin-soiled, Hausauer runs cattle along with a six-crop grain rotation on his land, much of it in some type of government program to idle it.

"I have CRP coming out in 2010, 2011 and 2012, so I'll be making those decisions in the next three years," he said.

He said some of the land will go into permanent pasture, some will go into permanent hayland while the land farthest from the yard will be cropped.

"With three-dollar wheat, it would make sense to leave it in CRP," he said, but with the markets it's always a crap-shoot for farmers.

One of the concerns is that when the acres come out of contract - 3.4 million acres nationwide in September - it could further stunt a shaky farm market depending on what is planted.

"Unfortunately, there are not a lot of options for leaving it grass cover and getting an annual payment," Jost said.

He added that's particularly true in west river counties.

Most of the program available now through when CRP expires in 2012 are geared toward wetland acres.

In 2012, North Dakota alone will lose more than 846,000 acres of CRP. That worries conservation groups like Ducks Unlimited. Scott McLeod of DU said to get to the 32-million-acre cap mandated by the 2008 farm bill, a drop from 39.2 million acres, much of it came out of the Prairie Pothole region of the Dakotas.

McLeod said in conjunction with the Natural Resource Conservation Service, DU has hired two conservation program biologists to help promote the CP37 CRP program. McLeod said it's a cost share and incentive program designed to restore wetland areas and provide funds for grass plantings.

Game and Fish provides up to half of the cost of grass seeding and management if the landowner provides public access through the life of the contract. Game and Fish also will offer a one-time up front incentive payment of $1 to $4 per acre.

McLeod said DU would pay up to 25 percent of the actual wetland restoration costs which in most cases would cover the landowner's costs.

The North Dakota Natural Resources Trust would provide incentives directly to the landowner at a rate of $30 per wetland acre or $150 per restored basin.

McLeod said that right now there are 40,000 acres enrolled in the CP37 program, the maximum allowed. He said there is about $18 million in federal money available to enroll some 900,000 additional acres into the wetlands reserve program over the next three years, and getting the word out to producers will be key.

"There are a lot of different programs out there and a lot of confusion," he said when it comes to wetlands programs.

Acres coming out of CRP are a result of decisions made after the 2006 farm bill, decisions driven by commodity prices, McLeod said.

"It's a tough sell to get producers locked in for 10-15 years," he said.

The loss of CRP acres worries hunters who have seen pheasant, deer and other wildlife numbers increase over the lifetime of the program.

Kevin Kading, private lands coordinator for the Game and Fish Department, said there are some options "in motion" that could provide a stopgap that would help in the western part of the state.

He said the Coverlocks program has been modified that will allow some expired CRP acres to roll over into CREP, or the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. He said Game and Fish also is working with Pheasants Forever to add additional areas in the southwest but as with everything, it comes down to funding.

"There are people out there who would like to have that CRP option but Congress took that away," he said.

Kading said between Game and Fish and Pheasants Forever, there are three farm bill biologists working on options. But nothing will likely happen before the environmental impact study is completed next fall.

"It's not something you'll see this year or maybe even next year," Kading said.

"For some of these guys, that will be too late," he said.

(Reach reporter Brian Gehring 250-8254 or brian.gehring@bismarcktribune.com.)