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Show Land Eligible for Conservation Reserve Program SALT LAKE CITY Land which has bein tillei during- the past year in a regular roiation system is eligible for the conservation reserve re-serve portion of the new Soil Bank program. This was disclosed Wednesday by J. Taylor Alien, Provo, chairman chair-man of the state ASC committee. He announced that Oct. 15 is the deadline for Utah farmers to sign up with local ASC committees if they wish to qualify for conservation conserva-tion reserve payments this year. Under the conservation reservt section of the Soil Bank program, farmers are paid a rental averaging aver-aging $11 per acre in Utah for maintaining certain crop land in cover crcps such as grass or trees. Also thsy will be paid up to 75 per cent of the cost of establishing the cover. (The acreage reserve is the other oth-er phase of the U. S. Department of Agriculturt's two pronged move to reduce price-depressing surpluses surplus-es and promote soil conservation. It provides payments, ranging from '51.01 to $1.09 per bushel in Utah, for fanners who voluntarily cut their wheat acreage below their allotment. Generally, farmers must leave such land idle although they are required to prevent the spread of noxious weeds. As earlier announced, Utah farmers far-mers who are seeding wheat this fall must sign up with their local ASC offices by Sept. 21 if they want to qualify for acreage reserve payments next year.) Mr. Allen explained that with the conservation reserve rental payment varying from $8 to $12 per acre in Utah "we don't expect much irrigated land will be affected affect-ed by the program. Instead, we anticipate that the poorer classes cf land will be taken out of cultivation cul-tivation and put in cover." Under the conservation reserve a soil bank base is established for each participating farm. In general gener-al that is the average acreage planted during the past two years to cultivated and grain crops. The soil bank base is the maximum acreage which can be put In the conservation reserve at the regular rental rate. As indicated earlier, that averages $11 per acre in Utah but varies by county. If a farmer puts into the conservation con-servation reserve the balance of his cropland, he will get a rental equal to 30 per cent of the regular rate for those acres in excess of his soil bank base. Mr. Allen explained that whereas where-as only wheat allotment land is eligible for the acreage reserve, any land which has been tilled the past year or is or has been in a regular rotation can be put in the conservation reserve. However, a farmer cannot reduce re-duce his normal acreage of idle land, summer fallow and soil building buil-ding crops such as grasses and legumes. Land for the conservation reserve must come out of tilled land. Farmers whD sign up on the conservation reserve actually enter into a contract with the Government. Govern-ment. The contracts will be for three or five years if land already is in an approved cover crop, five or ten years if approved cover must be established and for ten or fifteen fif-teen years if trees are to be planted. Farmers must plant their con- servation reserve acreage to approved ap-proved grasses, legumes or trees. They may also devote it to a soil, water, forest or wildlife conservation conserva-tion practice. They may not harvest har-vest or graze such land. Chairman Allen said that if farmers far-mers want to qualify for rental payments for 1956 they must sign up by the Oct. 15 deadline. However, How-ever, to be eligible they must not have harvested or grazed the designate des-ignate acreage during 1956. He said it is expected that much of Utah's dry farm wheat fallow land will be placed in the conservation conser-vation reserve this fall. For one reason, farmers who cut their wheat plantings by participating in the acreage reserve won't need as much fallow land. Deadline for signing up for conservation con-servation reserve rental payments for 1957 is next March 15. The state conservation reserve goal for 1956 is 15,000 to 25,000 acres. The goal for 1957 is 85,000 acres. Conservation reserve rental rates by counties will be as follows: $11 per acre for Beaver, Carbon, Duchesne, Emery, Grand, Iron, Juab, Kane, Millard, Salt Lake, Sanpete, Sevier, Uintah, Utah counties. $10 per acre: Daggett, Garfield, Piute, Rich, San Juan, Summit, Wasatch, and Wayne counties. $12 per acre: Box Elder, Cache, Davis, Morgan, and Wrebtr counties. coun-ties. Tooele county $8 and Washington Washing-ton County $9. |