Being a farmer and environmentalist might not seem to matchup, but for Eric Rund a program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture has made it easier to give back to the land that provides his livelihood.

“If I was farming that land, I’d probably be making more, but there’s a benefit for conservation, too,” Rund said. “Most farmers are conservationists and they do their best for the environment, but they also have to make a living.”

Since 1986, the USDA’s Conservation Reserve Program has aimed to protect the environment by preventing soil erosion and water contamination, said Donald King, conservation programs specialist for the department’s Farm Service Agency.

On Oct. 1, the department began to pay $1.8 billion to farmers enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, according to its Web site. Farmers participating in the program choose not to plant certain portions of their land that are in danger of soil erosion in order to preserve soil and water quality. In return for their participation, farmers are paid a yearly rent by the USDA.

“(Rent paid to farmers) has been fairly constant over the past 10 years,” King said.

With 781,637 contracts signed and more than 36.8 million acres enrolled, the program is the largest public-private partnership for conservation and wildlife habitat in the United States, according to the Web site.

“Of the contracts that expired September 2007, about 90 percent of the ground did re-enroll,” King said.

The land Rund, owner and operator of Rund Farms in Champaign County, took out of production is near a stream. Rund has planted a filter strip of varying prairie grasses alongside it to prevent herbicides from getting into the water.

“It gave me the opportunity to take marginal lands and put it into production with grass,” Rund said. “It was a fair payment for the amount of money I was paying.”

Rund farms 750 acres of land and rents the land from other farmers. By taking land out of production and still paying rent, he loses money. The Conservation Reserve Program helps make it more realistic for farmers like Rund to preserve the environment.

Because of an increase in demand, corn has become a profitable crop to grow, Rund said. He believes some farmers may choose to plant this crop on the land they have enrolled in the program when their contracts expire.

Rund said he is also interested in planting Miscanthus alongside his stream, a type of grass that can be harvested to make fuel.

Rund said the crop is not on the list of plants able to be grown on land under contract, but he hopes this will soon be revised.

The program does offer other grasses that can be grown for bio-fuels, but the problem Illinois farmers may have is the lack of processing plants for them to take the grass to be converted to gas, King said.

The program is included within the national Farm Bill, which will expire on Dec. 31. Congress and the USDA administration are in discussion on what the new bill will entail.

“The CRP program is included in everyone’s version of the bill, so I look for it to continue,” King said.

The bill has been helpful to Rund and he plans on renewing his contract when it expires.

“They did all right with this program,” Rund said.