Producers say CRP grazing is good, but they need more

Editor's note: This letter was sent to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns.

The current drought in the Southwest and High Plains is becoming one of the driest years on record. Rural Fire Departments have had the busiest fire season on record and have overspent their budgets on fuel for the year. Grass fires have plagued the entire area and continue to cause hardship on area ranchers, farmers and citizens. Long term weather forecasts do not appear to change until late in the fall of 2006.

Ranchers are beginning to liquidate cow herds and many sale barns are having record runs for this time of year. Cow liquidation is expected to increase if drought continues through the next several months. Many areas have been opened up for CRP grazing, however the grazing program is being administered differently from state to state as the drought covers a large area. The primary areas affected are New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas and Wyoming.

The USDA needs to declare the entire area open to emergency haying and grazing of CRP acreage until late in the fall or early winter. Some areas have only declared managed grazing available which limits the amount of acreage available for grazing rather than allowing all of the acreage being available for haying and grazing. Fire does not discriminate and neither should the USDA. The primary reason for allowing this management practice is to eliminate the fire hazards and to allow for ranchers to use the available resource of feed to sustain cow herds and reduce the liquidation of cows as a result of the current drought. Record numbers of cattle have already been placed in the feedyards and the feed usage is increasing and the availability of hay and forage crops are becoming scarce due to the current growing conditions. The increase in liquidation of the cattle herds will further depress the current market, in which fat cattle are presently losing approximately $100 to $150 per head. It will also cause a spike in the market in the future due to the lack of calves resulting from the current herd liquidation.

The USDA should waive the 25 percent usage requirement on the CRP lands and encourage landowners to allow livestock producers to use the forage rather than risk fire on the acreage and cause further harm to the environment through smoke from the fires and soil erosion as a result of fire. Both producers and the government have spent numerous resources and dollars in establishing the CRP throughout the area to let fire and wind erosion completely destroy the existing cover.

At present the 25 percent of the CRP payment charged against the CRP contracts is above market rate for grazing leases. Most CRP contracts would have an $8 to $10 per acre usage requirement if the CRP contract is from $36 to $40 per acre. The $8 to $10 usage charge in most areas is for only four months of usage whereas the normal grazing lease in the same area for native pasture runs from $4 to $6 per acre on an annual basis. If you consider this the grazing rate is 4 to 5 times higher than what normal grazing leases are in this area. The cost alone makes grazing prohibitive to many ranchers and the CRP contract owners are reluctant to lease out as they are guaranteed to receive the payment from the government without the hassle of leasing to a livestock producer.

Ranchers have already accrued higher than normal production costs caused by the drought, a reduced breed back on their herds, and will have a lower than normal weaning weight on their calf crop. Most CRP grasses are only dry filler and have a limited amount of nutrients available to sustain cattle. Cattle producers must supplement the cattle through the addition of protein supplements and minerals to meet the nutrient requirement of most livestock, in addition to the high grazing rate charged on the CRP grasses. Landowners and CRP participants have no motivation to offer the CRP acreage to the ranchers considering the current 25 percent usage requirement, other than the reduced risk of fire of which the cost is born by the rural fire departments to control.

The USDA just recently appropriated $8.10 million in emergency conservation funds for several counties in the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma. USDA has declared the region an emergency area as a result of wildfires but only allowed the waiver for grazing the CRP lands in this area for a 60-day period. The drought in many of the states listed has worsened since the wildfires in the Texas Panhandle. CRP grass in the affected areas are contributing to the fires and placing a further hardship on communities and rural fire departments. Allowing haying and grazing would have a positive impact considering the costs related to another disaster of this magnitude and help to minimize the subsidies paid as a result of disasters related to wildfires and the existing drought. The USDA should not allow more occurrences of wildfires when a simple solution is available that will have a positive impact on the local economies and guard against future wildfire disasters.

Please consider allowing emergency haying and grazing of CRP lands until the drought subsides and waive the 25 percent fee to encourage CRP recipients to allow haying and grazing providing a buffer for livestock producers and reducing the fire hazards to protect citizens, their homesteads, communities and possibly save some lives.

--Blake E. Prather, Clovis, NM, Ag Services, Inc.

Date: 6/21/06

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