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 Financial
Incentive
Under the continuous CRP, riparian buffer strips consisting of a combination
of trees, shrubs, and native grasses up to 180 feet wide can be planted
along each bank of rivers, creeks, and streams. If the buffer is planted
on existing crop ground at least 1/3 of the strip must be woody vegetation.
If the buffer is planted on marginal pasture land at least 90 percent
of the strip must be woody vegetation. Forested riparian buffers allow
you to maximize your buffer width and your financial return.
Financial Incentives
include:
-
50% cost share reimbursement for establishing
tree and shrub cover.
-
40% practice incentive payment for installing
a forested riparian buffer or field windbreak (this brings total
cost-share reimbursement to 90%).
-
An upfront sign-up incentive payment of either
$100 for a ten year contract or $150 for a 15 year contract.
- A 15 year annual rental payment averaging between
$120 to $150 dollars per acre on crop ground and $84 dollars per
acre on marginal pasture.
An Example of How Buffers
Pay
Forested riparian buffers not only benefit the environment, they
also benefit your pocketbook. For example, assume you have a stream
running through your property. The stream length on your property is
80 rods. You decide to put in a 180 foot buffer on both sides of the
stream. Your total buffer area is 10.9 acres.
If the forest buffer is on crop ground and your rental payment is $130/acre,
at the end of a fifteen year period you will receive from your rental
payment, sign-up bonus, and cost-share reimbursement $2,550 per acre
or a total of $27,795 . If your buffer is on marginal pasture land you
will receive $1,860 per acre or a total of $20,274. You will probably
have invested around $700 per acre in your planting to make it a success;
therefore, your net gain would be approximately $1,850 per acre for
crop ground and $1,160 per acre for marginal pasture land. Your total
net economic gain is $20,165 on crop ground and $12,644 on marginal
pasture.
It should be noted that on marginal pasture there is a wildlife habitat
practice for marginal pasture. In the example above a landowner who
chose a wildlife habitat buffer over a forested riparian buffer on marginal
pasture would be giving up $4,536 of income over the life of the practice.
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