A novel perennial pasture and winter wheat conservation agriculture intercrop system for central USAGlover J1, Duggan J2, Jackson L31 Science and Technology Policy Fellow, U

The USA’s federally funded Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has largely been successful in restoring many critical ecosystem functions to millions of acres through the conversion of vulnerable croplands to diverse perennial plant communities—primarily to perennial grass and forb plantings. CRP contracts, however, on as much as 6.5 million hectares (ha) are now expiring. Aside from leaving the land idle and economically unproductive as it was during the contract period, land owners typically have two options for managing post-contract CRP lands. Grazing or haying the perennial grass vegetation may be the best option for maintaining environmental benefits following contract expiration (Glover et al., 2010), but can offer low economic returns. Another option is to convert the land back to annual cropland for greater economic return. In the past, nearly 66 percent of post-contract CRP grasslands have been converted to annual cropland with roughly 30 percent remaining in perennial cover (USDA-ERS, 2005).