CRP Decision and Consequences

My business is dependent on cattle production. The industry needed the release of CRP for grazing due to the extremely high feed costs caused by corn-based ethanol production. My experience tells me though, that this decision may not be the best for wildlife in some areas. I would have preferred for the authorization to allow that haying and grazing be limited to no more than 80% of each tract of CRP. The remaining 20% would preferably have been in strips or possibly on the most sensitive portions of a tract for wildlife. This would allow a reservoir of untouched grass for wildlife cover. I fear that many tracts will be overgrazed.

U.S. judge allows haying and grazing on CRP land

By Christopher Doering

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. farmers and ranchers who have already been approved can participate in a government program allowing haying and grazing on Conservation Reserve land, a federal judge in Seattle said on Thursday.

In the decision, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour also ruled the...(complete article here).