Currently, there are 22 million acres enrolled in CRP, and for the 2022 fiscal year, a statutory cap of 25.5 million acres is in place. As a result, there is the potential to provide farmers with access to millions of acres of cropland and pasture that would have otherwise remained idle in order to address both inflation and food security concerns.
“This should be a top priority,” Boozman writes. Notably, the European Union is considering a similar approach of allowing farmers to use fallow land to grow crops, counter supply disruptions, enhance food security, and reduce inflationary pressures following the invasion of Ukraine.