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"We are re-evaluating all options here as we look at the impact of the floods in the Midwest, the cropping patterns across the country," Schafer said.

The 20-year-old CRP is a favorite of conservationists and hunters and fishers who call it the "duck factory" and the "holy grail for wildlife." But the program faces rising threats in the face of soaring crop prices, increasing land-rental rates and growing demand for grain.

"I think collectively the threats to the program have never been greater than at this particular point," said Dave Nomsen, vice president of Pheasants Forever.

Overall enrollment in CRP has decreased, and many farm and livestock groups have continually turned to its 34.7 million acres to boost crop production. Livestock groups asked USDA to release CRP land last year when corn prices started to rise due to demand from ethanol makers.

USDA refused previous requests to release farmers from their 10- to 15-year contracts and open up CRP land for row crops. But as floods washed out about 4 million acres of farmland this month, calls for opening CRP land intensified.

Iowa livestock groups have renewed their request this summer with a powerful ally, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa). He met with Schafer earlier this week to ask for a penalty-free release of CRP contracts.

The Bush administration is facing mounting pressure to find some additional relief for farm commodities that were already strained before the floods. Carry-over stocks of corn are at all-time lows, while the demand for grains has increased -- because of both worldwide growth and the booming U.S. ethanol trade. Corn prices have reached record highs, closely trailed by soybean prices.

"Folks are looking at opening up CRP land; that discussion is taking place now," Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) said in an interview. "It is more intense than I've heard in a long time."

Iowa senators' divergent views

Rising corn and soybean prices have been particularly problematic for livestock producers. Feed prices account for 70 percent of the overall cost of raising an animal, the industry says.

Grassley wants USDA to release new or less fragile land that could be planted to soybeans, milo, sorghum or hay for the livestock industry. Iowa has over 1.8 million acres of CRP land.

"We continue to have growing global demands for feedstocks, and current flooding issues make it a certainty that Iowa will not meet the production goals set forth earlier this year," Grassley wrote USDA last week.

Schafer is getting a different request from Iowa's other senator, Agriculture Chairman Tom Harkin. The Democrat also met with Schafer this week and is opposed to an early release of CRP land.

Harkin said conservation land is even more vital for Iowa, given the recent floods. Conservation land reduces soil erosion and sedimentation in waterways and enhances wetlands and wildlife habitat -- all things that help the environment cope with flooding and extreme weather. Much as mangrove wetlands help coastal areas cope with hurricanes or tsunamis, conservation land is thought to help with flooding by absorbing more water and holding sediment.

And practically, CRP land would likely do little to boost the corn or soybean crop this year, Harkin said, since land that has been devoted to grassland would be unlikely to produce much of the crop at this late stage in the game.

"Land that is in the CRP is generally highly erodible and less productive for row crops, so it seems more benefit to Iowa can be gained by making sure CRP is available for forage to the greatest extent possible consistent with sound conservation," Harkin said in a statement.

In an attempt to ease the strain of feed costs, USDA already announced that it would allow haying and grazing on CRP land, as long as farmers avoid the nesting season for birds. The grass nesting season in Iowa ends Aug. 2.

The department could potentially expand that to allow even more grazing. The new farm bill includes a provision -- inserted at the request of another Iowan, Rep. Leonard Boswell (D) -- that gives USDA expanded authority to hay and graze.

Some wildlife groups are concerned that the growing pressure to use CRP land for grazing will degrade its benefits for wildlife.

"You can't have your cake and eat it too; you have to eliminate those things, or good habitat does not develop," said Julie Sibbing of the National Wildlife Federation.

Depleted program

Even if USDA denies early releases for CRP this year, the program is expected to be diminished.

Many landowners are choosing the more profitable option of plowing up CRP land for row crops. The new farm bill also scaled down the overall size of CRP -- favoring investment in working lands programs over land retirement. It reduced the authorization for the program by more than 7 million acres.

"Clearly, right now the economics are driving the biggest threats, there are record high commodity prices and record low commodity stocks, the plain result is a lot of pressure on lands, unfortunately even marginal lands," said Pheasants Forever's Nomsen.

Landowners withdrew 2.6 million acres of CRP land in 2007, and USDA officials have said they have no plans in the next two years to enroll new fields. Ongoing contracts for about 12 million acres are due to expire in the next three years. Contracts for more than 1 million acres will expire this September.

Some agriculture economists have predicted that as many as 20 million acres could be removed from the program over the next decade.

"It seems it is everybody's easy answer," Sibbing said. "But the fact of the matter is that this land was taken out of production for a reason, because it is almost all pretty marginal land."

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