March 21, 2005

Dear Fellow Nebraskans:

I write to you this week having recently signed an agreement that will provide farmers with a new option that is also a significant step toward addressing the shortage of water in many parts of our state. The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) is designed as a water conservation program that restores natural habitat on acres difficult to farm without the aid of irrigation.

Our producers have shouldered the growing burden to turn a profit on every acre planted, and that risk has only increased as the recent drought lingers and water levels continue to drop. Enrollment in CREP presents an opportunity to relieve some of that pressure by allowing farmers the option to take land out of crop production for a period of 10 to 15 years.

The state is collaborating with the United States Department of Agriculture to host an innovative conservation project in areas along the North Platte, Platte and Republican Rivers in western and south-central parts of the state.

Enrollment in the program is strictly voluntary. Producers will have the option to cease irrigation on as much as 100,000 acres, and convert them to reserve acres for wildlife habitat, filter strips, conservation buffers, and even wetland habitat.

I believe participation in this program makes a tremendous amount of economic sense for some producers who have few options for maintaining profitable operations in the midst of drought and limited water resources. In addition to helping producers, CREP areas benefit tourism and local communities by increasing water quality. They also benefit wildlife and help our state conserve more of our most precious resource – water.

Producers in the Platte-Republican CREP boundaries now have the opportunity to weigh the benefits and make the best decision for their business. Our goal in launching this program was to make the option to enroll acres available to producers before planting decisions were finalized. Admittedly, this new option will come too late for some, but acres will continue to be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis for next year and the years that follow until the maximum 100,000 acres have been registered.

Many partners have worked very hard during the past six months to develop the Platte-Republican Resources Area CREP, and I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to those who were instrumental in the signing of this agreement. Congressman Tom Osborne has been committed to this issue and has paved the way to address increasing demands on scare water supplies in central and western parts of the state.

Our state Natural Resource Districts and irrigation districts also took active roles in the planning and I look forward to their continued involvement as we begin to promote CREP as a viable alternative for producers in western Nebraska. I’d also like to thank the Department of Natural Resources and Nebraska Department of Agriculture for their hard work in helping reach this agreement. Finally, I want to commend our local Farm Service Agencies for their work in preparing to implement this program.

Water conservation is important to not only our agricultural producers but to businesses and communities of every size. Protecting the availability our state’s most precious natural resource will continue to be an ongoing challenge in our state, and I want to encourage everyone to be involved in addressing this important issue.

As we face the possibility of another year of reduced rainfall, my focus is to work to ensure that our producers have access to drought relief programs and viable business alternatives like CREP, while we pursue new opportunities to conserve water.