CRP May Be Hayed or Grazed

[BritChaser]

Here's the announcement:

Sheridan,Graham, Decatur, Norton, & Gove among other in NW KS are in the area authorized to be hayed or grazed.​

No loss or reduction of CRP payment.​

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Emergency Haying, Grazing of Conservation Reserve Program Acres Available to Help Livestock Producers Weather Drought​

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Aug. 23, 2021 – Agricultural producers impacted by drought can now request haying and grazing on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres in certain Kansas counties, while still receiving their full rental payment for the land.

“Drought is heavily impacting livestock producers in Kansas and across the country, and emergency haying or grazing of lands enrolled in CRP is one more drought mitigation tool to help producers,” said Zach Ducheneaux, Administrator of USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). “While CRP makes annual rental payments for land in conservation, under certain circumstances, FSA can allow the haying and grazing of these lands to mitigate the impacts of natural disasters without a reduction in payments. As part of our climate-smart agriculture efforts, we are working with all stakeholder groups to ensure that supplemental benefits of CRP acres, like emergency haying and grazing, can be accessed in a manner that is more universally beneficial.”

Outside of the primary nesting season, emergency haying and grazing of CRP acres may be authorized to provide relief to livestock producers in areas affected by a severe drought or similar natural disaster. The primary nesting season for Kansas ended July 15. Counties are approved for emergency haying and grazing due to drought conditions on a county-by-county basis when a county is designated as level “D2 Drought - Severe” according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. FSA provides a weekly, online update of eligible counties. Producers interested in Emergency Haying and Grazing on CRP acres should contact FSA to determine if their county is still eligible for emergency authorization. If emergency haying and grazing is still available, producers will need complete a formal request.

Producers can use the CRP acreage under the emergency grazing provisions for their livestock or may grant another livestock producer use of the CRP acreage.

Producers interested in emergency haying or grazing of CRP acres must notify their FSA county office before starting any activities. This includes producers accessing CRP acres held by someone else. To maintain contract compliance, producers must have their conservation plan modified by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

Emergency CRP Haying and Grazing Option

CRP emergency haying and grazing is available in eligible counties as long as the stand is in condition to support such activity subject to a modified conservation plan. Hay may be cut once in eligible counties each program year (October 1-September 30). Haying must be concluded prior to August 31 according to an approved conservation plan to allow time for regrowth prior to winter conditions and must be removed within 15 calendar days of being baled.

CRP emergency grazing is available in eligible counties as long as it does not exceed 90 days each program year (October 1-September 30) and must be stopped when the minimum grazing height is reached, as established within the modified CRP conservation plan or when the county is no longer eligible for emergency haying and grazing.

Non-Emergency CRP Haying and Grazing Option

 

[BritChaser]

I might add that come opening day, if you encounter a walk-in that is being grazed or has been hayed and it has no hunting value, the KDWPT may want to recoup any payment for this season. The KDWPT does not monitor field conditions; it's up to you to report.

Moreover, the KDWPT walk-in atlas will not show what plots have been hayed or grazed. Your first notice will be when you see the field.

 

[birddogs4evr]

Thanks for the info., we're coming back in January so appreciate any help we can get.

 

[Jake300win]

Thanks for the update.

 

[hunter94]

I might add that come opening day, if you encounter a walk-in that is being grazed or has been hayed and it has no hunting value, the KDWPT may want to recoup any payment for this season. The KDWPT does not monitor field conditions; it's up to you to report.

will that's bullshit! they pay these guys and then they ignore their compliance. guess i don't need to buy a license either.

 

[McFarmer]

will that's bullshit! they pay these guys and then they ignore their compliance. guess i don't need to buy a license either.

The penalties for being out of compliance are pretty severe, not worth the risk. It would take some amount of manpower to check every contract, they are spot checked however.

You are welcome to roll the dice on the license.

 

[5 stand]

I hunt Kansas, and I hope to hunt it more this year.
What is - in compliance, as mentioned above.
Does anyone have a link?
What am I supposed to report?
Who am I supposed to report it to?

 

[BritChaser]

will that's bullshit! they pay these guys and then they ignore their compliance. guess i don't need to buy a license either!

will that's bullshit! they pay these guys and then they ignore their compliance. guess i don't need to buy a license either.

It's frustrating. I pulled up to a NE walk-in on opening day and there were cattle on it. I called it in. The monitoring problem is this: KS has about one million acres enrolled in walk-in; if you assume the average walk-in is 160 acres, that means there are about 6,250 walk-in plots. The KDWPT does not have the manpower to monitor all that. If they did, hunting licenses would probably be multiple times more costly.

 

[BritChaser]

I hunt Kansas, and I hope to hunt it more this year.
What is - in compliance, as mentioned above.
Does anyone have a link?
What am I supposed to report?
Who am I supposed to report it to?

The walk-in atlas will not reflect what plots have been hayed or grazed. You'll only know by pulling up to a plot and finding it hayed or (being) grazed. Then report it to the KDWPT.

 

[McFarmer]

In Iowa the IHAP program allows all normal farming operations on the land. In the past I have raised crops, grazed and hayed land in the program. The program simply gives you the opportunity to be on the land, not what you will find when you get there.

Other states are no doubt different.

 

[matto]

The list is actually much longer. It seems that any county that hits D2 during the CRP year is eligible. It doesn't seem to matter if it was D2 for just one week or for an extended period of time. Here's the full list for Kansas including the week that it showed as D2. Most of the counties qualify based on last winter. D2 this summer has been very limited in NW KS.

1/12/2021​	20023​	Cheyenne	KS	D2
12/1/2020​	20027​	Clay	KS	D2
12/1/2020​	20029​	Cloud	KS	D2
10/20/2020​	20039​	Decatur	KS	D2
1/12/2021​	20063​	Gove	KS	D2
12/1/2020​	20065​	Graham	KS	D2
1/12/2021​	20067​	Grant	KS	D2
1/12/2021​	20071​	Greeley	KS	D2
1/12/2021​	20075​	Hamilton	KS	D2
11/3/2020​	20089​	Jewell	KS	D2
1/12/2021​	20093​	Kearny	KS	D2
12/8/2020​	20105​	Lincoln	KS	D2
1/12/2021​	20109​	Logan	KS	D2
12/1/2020​	20117​	Marshall	KS	D2
12/1/2020​	20123​	Mitchell	KS	D2
1/12/2021​	20129​	Morton	KS	D2
10/20/2020​	20137​	Norton	KS	D2
12/1/2020​	20143​	Ottawa	KS	D2
11/3/2020​	20147​	Phillips	KS	D2
1/12/2021​	20153​	Rawlins	KS	D2
12/1/2020​	20157​	Republic	KS	D2
1/12/2021​	20171​	Scott	KS	D2
11/17/2020​	20179​	Sheridan	KS	D2
1/12/2021​	20181​	Sherman	KS	D2
11/3/2020​	20183​	Smith	KS	D2
1/12/2021​	20187​	Stanton	KS	D2
10/20/2020​	20193​	Thomas	KS	D2
1/12/2021​	20199​	Wallace	KS	D2
12/1/2020​	20201​	Washington	KS	D2
1/12/2021​	20203​	Wichita	KS	D2

That's a big chunk of the state. I'd bet the list hasn't been much different than in recent prior years. There is still CRP in these counties that hasn't been hayed or grazed, so one has to wonder why. I suppose it's some combination of eligibility being more nuanced than is described and producers who don't need it or don't want to hassle with it.

 

[hunter94]

there is/was over 1 million aces designated to have CRP contracts expired this year, 2021.
obviously not all of this ground was in the WI program, but a lot of it was.
that ground is gone, back into production.
those acres left are subject to emergency grazing, which seems to happen ever year now.
what left is substantially less, due to these factors.
nothing like getting payed twice for your efforts, hunters be damned!

 

[McFarmer]

Many CRP contracts don’t qualify for haying this year, and have in the past. The rules on what can be taken for hay has changed. We took hay off about a third last year, none qualified this year.

We are in a severe drought area.

Some folks forget about the “Reserve“ in CRP, it isn’t a pheasant production program. Right now it is being used as a source of reserve forage.

 

[westksbowhunter]

2 months ago the entire state was white on the drought monitor. Its always dry in July in August. They jump the gun to quick.

 

[matto]

Some folks forget about the “Reserve“ in CRP, it isn’t a pheasant production program.

You're involved with CRP first hand and you've been at this a while. So I'm asking for your perspective. I wholeheartedly agree that CRP is not a pheasant production program. But what were the objectives of the program in 1985? Lately it has become a source of emergency forage for livestock producers. Was that part of the original intent? I was a teenager at the time who was far more interested in other things so I truly don't know.

I've always believed the program was about reducing the oversupply of commodities by taking marginal land out of production. There were side benefits in water quality, soil health, wildlife, and carbon sequestration (not recognized in 1985 but true nonetheless). Was it marketed or promised or implied that "if we have a drought you can feed the grass to cattle"? I'm not trying to be a smart ass or argumentative, I'm curious.

It's an academic question at best because the practice is allowed now. Presumably it's authorized by either the 1985 legislation or by the many subsequent farm bills that have tweaked and expanded CRP.

 

[westksbowhunter]

You're involved with CRP first hand and you've been at this a while. So I'm asking for your perspective. I wholeheartedly agree that CRP is not a pheasant production program. But what were the objectives of the program in 1985? Lately it has become a source of emergency forage for livestock producers. Was that part of the original intent? I was a teenager at the time who was far more interested in other things so I truly don't know.

I've always believed the program was about reducing the oversupply of commodities by taking marginal land out of production. There were side benefits in water quality, soil health, wildlife, and carbon sequestration (not recognized in 1985 but true nonetheless). Was it marketed or promised or implied that "if we have a drought you can feed the grass to cattle"? I'm not trying to be a smart ass or argumentative, I'm curious.

It's an academic question at best because the practice is allowed now. Presumably it's authorized by either the 1985 legislation or by the many subsequent farm bills that have tweaked and expanded CRP.

CRP is a land conservation program administered by FSA. In exchange for a yearly rental payment, farmers enrolled in the program agree to remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and plant species that will improve environmental health and quality. Contracts for land enrolled in CRP are 10-15 years in length. The long-term goal of the program is to re-establish valuable land cover to help improve water quality, prevent soil erosion, and reduce loss of wildlife habitat.

Conservation Reserve Program

www.fsa.usda.gov

 

[Westok]

I’m surprised I thought Kansas was getting some good rains this summer. It’s not on the drought monitor. We’ve had a wet summer here inOk and every time I look at the radar it looks like Kansas is getting it good too.

 

[akp]

Place we hunt on has been very wet.

 

[westksbowhunter]

I’m surprised I thought Kansas was getting some good rains this summer. It’s not on the drought monitor. We’ve had a wet summer here inOk and every time I look at the radar it looks like Kansas is getting it good too.

I am beginning to think the drought monitor is fake news.

 

[Westok]

im Not trying to say it’s not dry if it is. i was just hoping for farmers ranchers and the birds that they were getting some of the rains we were blessed with. Although its not looking like our quail situation in western ok is anything to get excited about. Even with the great summer rains.