Emergency Grazing Announced

June 25, 2004 -- On Thursday, Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced authorized emergency grazing on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres to provide relief for farmers and ranchers in qualifying areas suffering from this year?s extreme drought.

?Emergency grazing on Conservation Reserve Program Acres will allow producers to provide additional feed and forage for their livestock,? said Veneman.

The announcement authorizes emergency grazing (including grazing during the nesting season) of CRP acreage, ineligible counties only, until Sept. 30, 2004. To be eligible, a county must have suffered at least a 40-percent deviation from normal precipitation, or be at a D3 of D4 level for drought as rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor.

After a county has been approved, eligible CRP participants may submit emergency grazing applications to their local Farm Service Agency office. Haying or any other harvesting other than grazing is not permitted at this time.

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