Rounds announces bill to encourage converting cropland back to pasture

Under the proposal, eligible land would need to have had crops planted on it in at least four of the previous six years or have history of being cropped, according to a bill summary from Rounds’ Office. Farmers would sign 10- to 15-year contracts and establish and maintain perennial grasses or non-woody vegetation like wildflowers, buckwheat or radishes.

The program has additional incentives for beginning farmers and ranchers, and would prioritize contracts for poorly performing and highly erodible cropland.

A South Dakota State University study estimated the state lost about 1.8 million acres of grassland between 2006 and 2012, predominantly to cropland conversion. Across the Great Plains, 32 million acres of grassland were converted from 2012 through 2021, with row-crop expansion identified as the leading cause, according to a World Wildlife Fund analysis.

Under Rounds’ new bill, participants would receive annual payments equal to 75% of their county’s average cropland cash rental rate. The program would also pay 50% of the cost of establishing grass, increasing to 75% for beginning farmers and ranchers. Producers are still eligible for other federal cost-share programs that help establish things like fencing. 

The federal government has a program that permits livestock grazing while paying landowners to maintain it as grassland, called the Grassland Conservation Reserve Program. In April 2024, nearly 1.5 million South Dakota acres were enrolled in that program, totaling $23.67 million in payments; the average annual payment per acre was about $16.

The existing program, however, pays to preserve existing grass. Rounds’ bill would pay to convert cropland back to grass, and it does not include seasonal grazing restrictions like the current program. It would also pay landowners at a rate based on the land’s cropland value, rather than its pastureland value, which would amount to larger payments. 

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Rounds said the legislation’s cost has not yet been calculated. Its supporters await a congressional budget estimate that accounts not only for the new payments, but also the savings that would come with removing up to 20 million marginal crop acres from federal subsidized crop insurance programs. 

“You might very well save money on the insurance side of it,” Rounds told reporters. 

Rounds said he hopes to add the proposal to this year’s farm bill, which has not yet advanced out of the Senate Agriculture Committee. 

Rounds shared the news of the proposal during a panel discussion held by South Dakota Farm Bureau that also included U.S. Congressman Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota.

All three agreed that getting the 60 votes in the Senate needed to pass the farm bill — which would require some Democrats to support it in an election year where they’re assumed to gain more control — was unlikely. 

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