ISSUES AND ALTERNATIVES IN THE 1995 FARM BILL DEBATE: THE CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM

The future of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) will be a pivotal issue in the 1995 farm bill debate. Established under the Food Security Act of 1985, the original objectives of the CRP were to provide a voluntary form of supply control and to reduce soil erosion by retiring highly erodible land on a long-term basis. The latter objective was expanded in 1990 to include retirement of lands for the purpose of protecting water quality