JACKSON -- Farmers still have time to sign up for the Conservation Reserve Program.

CRP contracts, a voluntary program that offers farmers annual rental payments, incentive payments for certain activities and cost-share assistance to improve cover on eligible crop land, can be signed for 10 or 15 years.

"The deadline for signing up is Friday," said Terry Birk of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency in Jackson. "Our office has been busy here, but we still have time for more CRP sign-ups this week."

Both the Natural Resources Conservation Service and Farm Services Agency have had a big workload because of CRP, said Birk. These two organizations establish rental rate caps for the property involved in the sign-ups.

In Cape Girardeau County, 137 CRP contracts expire this year, representing 6,760 acres. In Missouri, 12,716 CRP contracts will expire, covering more than 800,000 acres.

Nationally, more than 22 million acres are currently counted in the CRP program.

These expiring-contract acres may be re-offered into the CRP.

And farmers with land never enrolled in CRP may also want to use the opportunity to enroll.

Farmers will be notified in June of their land's status in the program.

The new sign-up offers special incentives for environmentally sensitive land such as that in filter strips, grassed waterways or field windbreaks. These lands will be automatically eligible for acceptance in the sign-up at the maximum county rental rate plus 20 percent.

Most of the land in Cape Girardeau County is signed up for 10 years unless it is planted in trees, said Birk. "With tree plantings the land can go in the program for 15 years."

Ray Massey, agricultural economist with the University Extension Commercial Agriculture Program at Columbia, suggests talking with neighbors before putting a bid in on the program.

If your neighbor will pay more, rent it to him, said Massey. "If not, go with the government program. Just think of the CRP as another potential renter."

The only difference is that the CRP contract is for 10 years, he said.

Massey and Birk say those who want their land to remain in CRP should bid lower than the maximum rental rate. Although this will not guarantee that the land will be accepted, it will improve the chance it will.

The government computes an Environmental Benefits Index on each parcel of land submitted for CRP, said Massey. Farmers with high EBI ratings can bid at or near the maximum rental cap, but those with low EBI ratings should bid lower.

The highest U.S. EBI rating possible is 400 points.

"But in Missouri the highest count is 325," said Massey. "Seventy-five of the total EBI points are for things that Missouri doesn't have."