Primetime to Reform the Conservation Reserve Program

Droughts, border closures, New World Screwworm (NWS), Argentina beef imports, wildfires, packing plant slowdowns, and a 75-year low in the U.S. cattle inventory. Those aren’t just headlines. They are the realities cattle producers are working through every day. They have added volatility to the markets, but they have also created something else. Opportunity. 

From my perspective as a feedlot operator in northwest Iowa, that opportunity is sitting right in front of us. When cattle numbers get this tight, everyone feels it. Feedlots are not running at capacity. Packers adjust. Rural communities feel it too. The market is sending a clear signal. We need more cattle. 

Iowa is in a strong position to respond. We have the feed, the infrastructure, and the people to not only finish cattle, but to help rebuild the cow herd. The piece we continue to run up against is access to land. 

That is where the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) needs a harder look. 

CRP was designed with good intentions, and it has delivered real conservation benefits. But today, it is also functioning as direct competition for land. When government-backed payments are strong enough to take acres completely out of production, it shifts the market. It drives up rental rates and limits access for farmers and ranchers who are trying to actively use that land. 

At the same time, program requirements have created unintended consequences. In many cases, land has needed a recent row crop history to qualify for enrollment. That has led to pasture being broken out and fences coming out, not because it made sense for the land long term, but because it made sense to fit within a program. Once that infrastructure is gone, it is not easily replaced. 

On the other side, Iowa producers are often shut out of opportunities like Grasslands CRP. Because our land is so productive and has a strong cropping history, we do not always meet the eligibility requirements that favor existing grass-based systems. So we end up in a situation where working pasture is reduced, and at the same time, we are limited in accessing programs that could actually support grazing. 

That is a disconnect. 

We are taking land out of livestock production, discouraging long-term pasture investment, and making it harder to rebuild the cow herd. All of this is happening at a time when cattle numbers are historically low, and demand signals are strong. 

There is a better way to approach it. 

Managed grazing within CRP offers a solution that keeps conservation goals intact while putting land back to work. Grazing, when done right, improves soil structure, supports plant diversity, and maintains ground cover. It keeps the land functioning as it was intended, while also contributing to the food supply. 

More importantly, it creates access. It gives producers, especially younger ones, a way to get started without competing against a system that is designed to sideline the land entirely. 

For those of us in the feeding sector, rebuilding the cow herd starts with grass. Without it, there is no pathway to expand. Without it, we continue to tighten supply and limit the future of the industry. 

The current situation should push us to think differently. Conservation and cattle production are not opposing goals. In many cases, they are strongest when they work together. 

Reforming CRP to allow for responsible, managed grazing and to remove some of the barriers that have worked against pasture and livestock production is a practical step forward. It keeps conservation benefits in place while recognizing the need for active land use. 

If we are serious about rebuilding the cow herd, supporting rural economies, and creating opportunities for the next generation, we have to address how land is being used. 

This is one of those moments where policy and opportunity line up. We should not let it pass us by.