9/9/2002
USDA Authorizes Emergency Haying/Grazing on CRP Acres
by Julianne Johnston Ag Web.com
USDA today authorized emergency haying and grazing on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres nationally to provide relief for farmers and ranchers in areas hardest hit by drought and other natural disasters. Previously, emergency haying and grazing was limited to 18 states.
Generally, to be approved for emergency haying or grazing, a county must have suffered at least a 40-percent loss of normal moisture and forage for the preceding four-month qualifying period. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) will notify its State Committees that the 40-percent loss criterion no longer applies.
State FSA committees may limit the area within the states if conditions do not warrant haying and grazing in all areas. CRP participants, where authorized, have until Nov. 30, 2002, to submit applications with their local FSA office for emergency haying or grazing. Conditions for participation and other details are available from local FSA offices.
CRP participants who do not own or lease livestock may donate, rent or lease the hay or the haying or grazing privileges. CRP annual rental payments made to participants will be reduced 25 percent to account for the areas hayed or grazed, unless the hay or the haying or grazing privileges are donated. For the welfare of wildlife, at least 25 percent of the CRP contract acreage must be left ungrazed or unhayed.
The Emergency Conservation Program helps producers rehabilitate farmlands damaged by natural disasters. The Federal Crop Insurance program provides indemnities for production and revenue losses; and the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, provides financial assistance to eligible producers affected by natural disasters. Secretary Veneman recently authorized a $150 million feed assistance program to help cow-calf operators in Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota, who are suffering from adverse weather affecting pasture and forage crops.
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