Young farmers are leading buyers of land being released from Conservation Reserve Program

Contracts for more than 6.5 million acres land now in the Conservation Reserve Program will expire this year, returning the land to production. The planting of U.S. field crops is expected to rise by 1.7 percent this spring, largely due to the expiration, according to the annual U.S. Department of Agriculture survey, reports Tom Polansek of Reuters. Farmers planting on former CRP land "could lift crop acres in the world's top grains producer to a record next year," he writes, and it could ease food-supply fears.

The program pays farmers to not plant on the land and to protect wildlife and natural habitats, but for young farmers who have been outbid for traditional farmland in the Midwest, the release of CRP land "offers a rare chance to join the biggest agricultural boom in a generation," Polansek reports. Not all the land is suitable for farming, but economists say almost half of it can be farmed for the first time in decades. Young farmers are leading the return of CRP land to farming.

The loss of acres is concerning environmental and wildlife groups. The USDA says the program has restored 2 million acres of wetlands and increased populations of some ground-dwelling birds. The agency is trying to encourage farmers to put more acres into CRP by providing a one-time signing bonus for enrollees of land that's considered the most environmentally sensitive. (Read more)