CRP Emergency Haying Authorized Due to Drought

USDA's Nebraska Farm Service Agency State (FSA) State Executive Director Dan Steinkruger announced today that due to drought, emergency haying and grazing is eligible on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres in Nuckolls and Webster Counties. There are 2,670 CRP acres in Nuckolls and 16,161 acres in Webster. Only livestock operations located within the approved counties are eligible for emergency haying or grazing of CRP acreage. CRP participants who do not own or lease livestock may rent or lease the grazing privilege to an eligible livestock producer located in that county. Producers with CRP acreage that is hayed or grazed will be assessed a 25 percent reduction in their annual rental payment. Before haying or grazing, CRP participants: shall request approval to hay or graze eligible acreage; obtain a modified conservation plan to include haying or grazing requirements, as determined by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) or a Technical Service Provider (TSP); shall leave at least 25 percent of each field or contiguous CRP fields ungrazed for wildlife, or graze not more than 75 percent of the stocking rate determined by NRCS or TSP; shall leave at least 50 percent of each field or contiguous fields unhayed for wildlife; shall remove all hay or livestock from all CRP fields by a date determined by FSA. Additional information about CRP emergency haying and grazing is available at the Nuckolls and Webster County FSA offices.