CRP acres complement native grass pastures

By Jennifer M. Latzke

In the northern Panhandle of Texas, rainfall is a precious commodity. While agriculture thrives from use of the Ogallala Aquifer below ground, dryland pastures are dependent on an average rainfall of 18 inches per year. And in the past few years, rainfall has been sparse.

So, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Farm Service Agency and the Natural Resources Conservation Service announced in May the availability of several thousand Conservation Reserve Program acres in Texas for haying and grazing under a new Critical Feed Use Provision, Rick Barkley and his neighbors were hopeful.

Barkley, who farms and ranches near Gruver, Texas, stocks cattle on native grass in his area. His family has been running cattle since his grandfather settled the area nearly a century ago, and so they are familiar with the peculiarities of grazing cattle in the Panhandle region.

"We run a yearling operation, and we source our cattle from many places," Barkley said. "Let's just say we have enough cattle to keep me and the banker nervous." Barkley's brother, Dave Barkley, is a cattle buyer out of Amarillo.

Strictly a stocker operation, the Barkley family likes to buy vaccinated, healthy, big calves that will succeed on the native grass pastures of the area. Each load is branded, castrated and vaccinated, if needed. Barkley also likes to see black calves on his place, because those are what feedyards are looking for in a potload of feeders.

"The cattle today? They are all better than what they used to be," Barkley said. The market, he added, trumps all when it comes to hide color.

The Barkleys are able to stock one head per eight acres of native grass. And, over the years, they've been able to use CRP ground through managed haying and grazing provisions to complement their non-CRP pastures.

Managed haying and grazing

When using CRP land as complementary forage, or as emergency forage, there are many regulations and guidelines to follow.

According to the USDA, haying and grazing of CRP acreage is authorized under specific conditions "to improve the quality and performance of the CRP cover, or to provide emergency relief to livestock producers." Under managed haying and grazing, producers can apply to hay or graze CRP land no more than one out of every three years after CRP cover is fully established. "Managed haying and grazing may be available less frequently in a particular area depending upon local conditions, resource capacity, and the conservation goals of the program," according to the Farm Service Agency.

Other provisions include:

--Acreage hayed or grazed under managed or emergency provisions in either of the previous two years is ineligible for the current year;

--Managed haying is only authorized for one period, up to 90 days;

--Managed grazing is authorized for a single period of 120 days or two 60-day periods;

--And, CRP participants must file a request with a local FSA office before activity begins.

All of this is covered under a Modified Conservation Plan, which is developed in a partnership between the landowner, the NRCS or a technical service provider. The plan takes into account the specific site in question, the authorized duration, and the local wildlife needs and concerns. Primarily, the plan aims to maintain vegetative cover, minimize soil erosion and protect water and wildlife while still allowing the landowner to use it for haying and grazing.

In order to use CRP under a management plan, though, there is a required payment reduction to be assessed. Under the Critical Feed Use provision, which was contested in July by the National Wildlife Federation and six of its affiliates, the payment was to be $75 per contract, rather than the usual 10 to 25 percent payment reduction.

"Over the years, CRP has played a hit and miss role," Barkley said. "It hasn't always been available, and managed haying and grazing takes some planning." The grazing season in the Panhandle is traditionally short, and Barkley explained that grass that greens up the end of May or first part of June with rains can get tough just as quickly. Still, while CRP isn't a big player for the Barkleys, it is nice to have a little leeway on being able to move cattle around to rest pastures, he said. This year was no exception.

"When they announced that CRP would be available for this Critical Feed Use provision, we thought it would fit into our deal really well," Barkley said. "We were very dry, and the native grass we were on was very short. The CRP in May wasn't very good, but there was a lot of it available. And, the plan was attractive with the $75 filing fee."

A restraining order in place

The Critical Feed Use provision was announced in late May, with sign-up beginning in June and July in some states. USDA explained the provision was supposed to alleviate the pinch of high feed costs on livestock producers. USDA estimated that by opening up 24 million acres under this provision, it would have generated about 18 million tons of hay, worth about $1.2 billion. All activity had to fall under management plans, and had to begin after the nesting season for native birds in each state. For Texas ranchers like Barkley, July 1 couldn't come soon enough.

"We had filed the paperwork and were awaiting our application approval," Barkley said. But then, July 8 came, and with it a temporary restraining order handed down by U.S. District Court Judge John C. Coughenour. The temporary restraining order effectively stopped all activity in regards to the Critical Feed Use of CRP until the judge could hand down a verdict on the NWF's case against the USDA. Barkley, like many of his neighbors, had begun improvements to CRP land in readiness to turn out cattle once their application was finalized.

"We got a phone call late one evening from the county FSA director," Barkley said. "He asked us if we'd put out cattle, and I told him, no we hadn't yet, and he told us 'well, don't.'" The Barkleys, and their rancher neighbors were in a holding pattern for the 16 days it took for a decision to come from the District Court.

"We had built our hot wire fences because we thought we knew it was a sure thing," Barkley said. Fortunately, Barkley was able to keep his cattle on the pastures they had been grazing since the first of the year. Unlike some who were affected by the decision, his pastures could still sustain cattle grazing, as long as there was plenty of cake to supplement.

During the restraining period, another fortunate occurrence happened. It rained. "In that 10-day period or so, it started to rain, and in this country, when it rains the grass is good," Barkley said. As soon as the final ruling was handed down July 24, and his CRP applications were approved shortly after that, Barkley opened up the gate and moved his stockers.

"The day before yesterday we shipped those cattle and they were good," he said. "I can't say there was a loss of gains, for sure, but I know those gains were poorer. We had to cake until the 10th of July, and it's unusual around here to cake from February to July."

The bottom line

To manage his risk, Barkley forward contracts a percentage of his stockers, but he doesn't like to retain ownership on into the feedyard. "Normally, my cattle are sold in advance," he said. "These will be delivered in October. Sometimes that's good and sometimes it's not so good." But, managing the markets is only one part of running a successful stocker cattle operation.

In the Panhandle, Barkley explained, producers look at CRP ground as an alternative tool to help them manage their grazing on native grasses and wheat pasture. There were many factors that influenced Barkley's decision to go to CRP ground. For example, dry conditions in the past three years or so have limited the rejuvenation of his native pastures, placing more stress on the land he has available for grazing. Additionally, high feed costs have limited the amount of supplemental feeding of cake and hay ranchers like Barkley can do on stressed native pastures. And, perhaps most importantly, the rising price for wheat has really limited grazing acres.

"Here, wheat pasture is a huge part of the cattle deal, but with wheat at $10 to $12 a bushel, guys are rethinking that," Barkley said. "Maybe they won't graze that wheat, and what was once available isn't anymore."

"In my opinion, this time, it's good to graze the CRP," Barkley said. "Even with a shorter season, we're able to rest our other native pastures and let them grow and rejuvenate. Grazing the CRP is a win-win for wildlife and producers. It cleans up the weeds and helps strip the old grasses so the new grass can come on without being smothered." He added that ranchers interested in grazing CRP just have to be certain to follow the guidelines set forth by their FSA and NRCS offices.

A balance between conservation of land resources and the needs of livestock producers is key to managed grazing of CRP, according to Barkley. And, even though the restraining order slowed down his operation for 16 days in July, he still doesn't hold a grudge against the NWF or its affiliates, rationalizing that conservation groups like the NWF may be one of the reasons the CRP is still supported by Congress in the farm bill.

"My feelings are not harsh on the CRP issue," he said. "It's been beneficial."

Jennifer M. Latzke can be reached by phone at 620-227-1807, or by e-mail at jlatzke@hpj.com.

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Date: 8/28/08

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