By JANE HOUIN
Ohio correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last week, USDA Secretary Ed Schafer released Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres for livestock grazing in counties recently designated as Presidential Disaster Areas because of flooding.

The release permits grazing only in counties designated as primary and contiguous disaster areas and only because of flooding.
“We have a crisis situation in the Midwest and other parts of the country that calls for drastic action,” said Schafer. “Major flooding along the Mississippi River and its tributaries came at one of the worst times for agriculture. Floodwaters inundated thousands of acres that cannot be salvaged for production this growing season, and it happened at a time of record crop, food and fuel prices.”
To be approved, CRP participants must write their county Farm Service Agency (FSA) office, obtain a modified conservation plan and receive county office approval before beginning to graze. Participants will have a 25 percent reduction in their CRP rental payments.

CRP is designed to provide both technical and financial assistance to eligible farmers and ranchers to address soil, water and related natural resource concerns on their lands in an environmentally friendly and cost-effective manner.

Farmers and ranchers receive assistance through this program to achieve compliance with federal, state and tribal environmental laws as well as to encourage environmental enhancement.

“Our CRP land is vital to the balance we promote at USDA between production and preservation,” Schafer said. “I commit this resource knowing that we must redouble our conservation effort at every future opportunity.”

Included among the states with counties that will permit livestock grazing are Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Within each state, only specific counties are eligible for CRP acreage release.
Under CRP, farmers and ranchers enroll eligible land in 10- to 15-year contracts with USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). FSA administers CRP on behalf of CCC.

Farmers and ranchers are encouraged to convert highly erodible cropland or other environmentally sensitive acreage to vegetative cover, such as tame or native grasses, wildlife plantings, trees, filter strips or riparian buffers. In return, farmers receive an annual rental payment for the term of the multi-year contract. Cost-sharing is provided to establish the vegetative cover practices.

For more information on CRP, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/crp and to view eligible counties online visit www.fsa.usda.gov or call your local FSA office to see if you qualify.