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The Conservation Reserve Program: Economic Implications for Rural America By Patrick Sullivan, Daniel Hellerstein, Leroy Hansen, Robert Johansson, Steven Koenig, Ruben Lubowski, William McBride, David McGranahan, Michael Roberts, Stephen Vogel, and Shawn Bucholtz Agricultural Economic Report No. (AER834) 112 pp, October 2004 This report estimates the impact that high levels of enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) have had on economic trends in rural counties since the program’s inception in 1985 until today. The results of a growth model and quasi-experimental control group analysis indicate no discernible impact by the CRP on aggregate county population trends. Aggregate employment growth may have slowed in some high-CRP counties, but only temporarily. High levels of CRP enrollment appear to have affected farm-related businesses over the long run, but growth in the number of other nonfarm businesses moderated CRP’s impact on total employment. If CRP contracts had ended in 2001, simulation models suggest that roughly 51 percent of CRP land would have returned to crop production, and that spending on outdoor recreation would decrease by as much as $300 million per year in rural areas. The resulting impacts on employment and income vary widely among regions having similar CRP enrollments, depending upon local economic conditions. Keywords: Conservation Reserve Program, CRP, rural development, rural employment, land retirement impacts, land-use changes, recreation spending, ERS, USDA In this report ... Chapters are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. If you are having trouble printing the PDF document check Adobe's website for troubleshooting advice, or e-mail us for a free copy of the report. Research Brief, 58 kb Abstract, Acknowledgments, Contents, and Summary, 68 kb Introduction, 2,319 kb Rural Economic Trends Following CRP’s Implementation, 735 kb Land-Use and Economic Implications of Expiring CRP Contracts, 65 kb Conclusions, 52 kb References, 74 kb Appendix A: Modeling Rural County Socioeconomic Change, 71 kb Appendix B: Predicting Land-Use Changes, 130 kb Appendix C: Description of the Recreation Models, 65 kb Appendix D: U.S. Regional Agricultural Sector Model, 64 kb Appendix E: The Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) Multiplier Framework, 78 kb Entire Document, 5,906 kb web administration: webadmin@ers.usda.gov page updated: October 8, 2004

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