WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sixth District Congressman Frank Lucas had mixed feelings about the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) announcement of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land acreage acceptance today. The USDA accepted 5.9 million acres into the 16th signup of the CRP.

"I have to say that I am relieved for the sake of the landowners in Oklahoma that the USDA has finally announced the results of the 16th signup of the CRP, which had ended on November 14," Lucas said. "It seems to me that the complexity of the CRP criteria developed by the Department of Agriculture in Washington--for signups since 1996--is making it slow and difficult for the agency to process its own equations and paperwork in a manner fair and expedient to the American landowner.

"These same complicated criteria for acceptance shifted focus to water and wildlife conservation detracting from the historic stress on soil conservation," Lucas continued. "U.S. Agriculture Secretary Glickman's new rules continue to put Oklahoma landowners at an unfair disadvantage."

During the 16th signup Oklahoma submitted 341,323 acres to the program with 136,122 of those acres being accepted, approximately a 40% acceptance rate.

"I have been pushing the Clinton Administration to reconsider their new criteria to offer a fairer focus on the land that 'should' be in CRP," Lucas said. "We need our quality cropland in production and our land in need of environmental protection placed in a program designed precisely for that purpose."

Under CRP, which was reauthorized in the 1996 Farm Bill, landowners enter into contracts with the USDA to place highly erodible and other environmentally sensitive cropland in long-term conservation practices for 10-15 years. In exchange, landowners receive annual rental payments for the land and cost-share assistance for establishing those practices.