USDA Approves Emergency Grazing CRP Acres For 12 Texas Counties

A dozen Texas counties now are approved with emergency grazing for livestock.

The USDA Texas Farm Service Agency Acting Executive Director James B. Douglass says that12 counties now have been authorized for emergency use of Conservation Reserve Program acres for fiscal year 2012.

Based on a decision made by the Texas FSA State Committee, the CRP emergency grazing approval will only be available for those CRP lands that were not utilized for haying or grazing during the previous 12 months.

The following counties are approved for CRP emergency grazing: Andrews, Bailey, Cochran, Cottle, Crosby, Dawson, Hockley, King, Lubbock, Martin, Swisher and Terry.

The CRP emergency grazing authorization for FY 2012 is effective immediately and ends on Sept. 30, 2012.

"Eligible producers who are interested in emergency grazing of CRP must request approval before grazing eligible acreage," Douglass says. "Producers must also obtain a modified conservation plan from the Natural Resources Conservation Service that outlines permitted grazing practices."

In addition, there will be a 25% reduction in the CRP payment for CRP acres used for grazing under these emergency provisions.

To take advantage of the emergency grazing provisions, authorized producers can use the CRP acreage for their own livestock or may grant another livestock producer use of the CRP acreage. The eligible CRP acreage is limited to acres located within the approved county.

Eligible producers who are interested in grazing CRP under the emergency authorization, and the current CRP participants, who choose to provide land for grazing to an eligible livestock producer in one of the authorized counties, must first request approval to graze eligible acreage and obtain a modified conservation plan from the NRCS to include grazing requirements.

For more information on emergency grazing of CRP and to request approval for emergency grazing of CRP acres, contact your local FSA office.