Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Thursday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's measures to open conservation land to emergency haying and grazing during the 2012 drought freed up a record 2.8 million acres and provided as much as $200 million in forage for producers facing critical feed shortages. Vilsack made the announcement during the national drought forum in Washington, D.C. co-sponsored by numerous federal agencies, governors' associations and academic partners.
"The Obama Administration remains committed to doing everything it can to help farmers, ranchers, businesses, and local and county governments meet drought-related challenges," said Vilsack. "Now we know that the actions taken by USDA and other federal agencies at the height of the drought provided much-needed flexibility during a difficult time. We also know that drought recovery is a long-term proposition, and we will continue to partner with producers to see it through."
Vilsack announces pilot program to provide more water for haying and grazing; memorandum to improve drought weather forecasting
At the height of the 2012 drought, the Secretary announced expanded use of Conservation Reserve Program acres for haying and grazing including a two-month extension for emergency grazing on CRP acres without incurring an additional CRP rental payment reduction. By providing this flexibility, USDA freed up forage and feed to benefit all livestock producers during a critical period, on top of additional USDA actions, including lowering the interest rate for emergency loans and working with crop insurance companies to provide flexibility to farmers.
USDA's Farm Service Agency reported to the Secretary today that roughly 2.8 million acres under 57,000 CRP contracts utilized the emergency haying and grazing option, compared to just over 1 million acres in 2011. In 2005, producers utilized roughly 1.7 million CRP acres for emergency haying and grazing, the previous record. USDA estimates of the gross value of forage provided in 2012 run from $140 million to $200 million.
Pilot program for irrigation, livestock watering
The Secretary also announced Thursday a new pilot program administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Kansas and Colorado to remove sediments from ponds to help provide more water for livestock or for irrigation. Part of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the pilot provides an additional conservation option for producers who face drought-related issues on their agricultural operations. Also, for the current fiscal year, NRCS has made available over $16 million through the EQIP program to farmers and ranchers for water conservation, practices, and wildlife habitat that have been affected by the drought. Those funds are in addition to the over $27 million provided to farmers ranchers in 22 states for drought mitigation during fiscal year 2012.