Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer announced yesterday that he is releasing Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres for livestock grazing in counties recently designated as presidential disaster areas because of flooding. The release permits grazing only in counties designated as primary and contiguous disaster areas and only because of flooding.

"We have a crisis situation in the Midwest and other parts of the country that calls for drastic action," said Schafer. "Major flooding along the Mississippi River and its tributaries came at one of the worst times for agriculture. Floodwaters inundated thousands of acres that cannot be salvaged for production this growing season, and it happened at a time of record crop, food and fuel prices. Our CRP land is vital to the balance we promote at USDA between production and preservation. I commit this resource knowing that we must redouble our conservation effort at every future opportunity."

To be approved, CRP participants must write their county Farm Service Agency office, obtain a modified conservation plan and receive county office approval before beginning to graze. Their CRP payments will be reduced by 25%.

The states with counties that will permit livestock grazing include Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The counties within each state are:

Colorado
Phillips, Yuma

Illinois
Adams, Boone, Brown, Calhoun, Carroll, Champaign, Coles, Cook, Clark, Clay, Crawford, Cumberland, DeKalb, Douglas, Edgar, Effingham, Gallatin, Greene, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Jasper, Jersey, Jo Daviess, Knox, Lake, Lawrence, Madison, McDonough, McHenry, Mercer, Morgan, Moultrie, Ogle, Pike, Platt, Richland, Rock Island, Schuyler, Scott, Shelby, Stephenson, Vermillion, Wabash, Warren, White, Whiteside, Winnebago

Indiana
Adams, Allen, Bartholomew, Benton, Blackford, Boone, Brown, Carroll, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Crawford, Daviess, Dearborn, Decatur, Delaware, Dubois, Fayette, Floyd, Fountain, Franklin, Gibson, Grant, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Harrison, Hendricks, Henry, Howard, Huntington, Jackson, Jay, Jefferson, Jennings, Johnson, Knox, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Martin, Miami, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Ohio, Orange, Owen, Parke, Pike, Posey, Putnam, Randolph, Ripley, Rush, Scott, Shelby, Sullivan, Switzerland, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Union, Vanderburgh, Vermillion, Vigo, Wabash, Warren, Warrick, Washington, Wayne, Wells, White, Whitley

Iowa
Adair, Adams, Allamakee, Appanoose, Audubon, Benton, Black Hawk, Boone, Bremer, Buchanan, Buena Vista, Butler, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Cedar, Cerro Gordo, Chickasaw, Clay, Clarke, Clayton, Clinton, Crawford, Dallas, Davis, Decatur, Delaware, Des Monies, Dickinson, Dubuque, Emmet, Fayette, Floyd, Franklin, Fremont, Greene, Grundy, Guthrie, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Harrison, Henry, Howard, Humboldt, Ida, Iowa, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Keokuk, Kossuth, Lee, Linn, Louisa, Lucas, Lyon, Madison, Mahaska, Marion, Marshall, Mills, Mitchell, Monona, Monroe, Montgomery, Muscatine, O'Brien, Osceola, Page, Palo Alto, Pocahontas, Polk, Pottawattamie, Poweshiek, Ringgold, Sac, Scott, Shelby, Sioux, Story, Tama, Taylor, Union, Van Buren, Wapello, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Winnebago, Winneshiek, Woodbury, Worth, Wright

Kansas
Brown, Decatur, Doniphan, Jewell, Marshall, Nemaha, Norton, Phillips, Rawlins, Republic, Smith, Washington

Kentucky
Boone, Gallatin, Carroll, Henderson, Trimble, Union

Maryland
Washington

Minnesota
Dodge, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, Martin, Mower, Nobles, Olmstead, Rock, Steele, Waseca, Winona

Missouri
Andrew, Atchison, Audrain, Buchanan, Clark, De Kalb, Franklin, Gentry, Harrison, Holt, Knox, Lewis, Lincoln, Marion, Mercer, Monroe, Montgomery, Nodaway, Pike, Ralls, Schuyler, Scotland, Shelby, St. Charles, St. Louis, Warren, Worth

Nebraska
Adams, Antelope, Arthur, Blaine, Boone, Boyd, Brown, Buffalo, Burt, Butler, Cass, Chase, Cherry, Clay, Colfax, Cuming, Custer, Dakota, Dawson, Dodge, Douglas, Dixon, Dundy, Fillmore, Franklin, Frontier, Furnas, Gage, Garfield, Gosper, Greeley, Hall, Hamilton, Harlan, Hayes, Hitchcock, Holt, Hooker, Howard, Jefferson, Johnson, Kearney, Keith, Keya Paha, Knox, Lancaster, Lincoln, Logan, Loup, Madison, McPherson, Merrick, Nance, Nemaha, Nuckolls, Otoe, Pawnee, Perkins, Phelps, Pierce, Platte, Polk, Red Willow, Richardson, Rock, Saline, Sarpy, Saunders, Seward, Sherman, Stanton, Thayer, Thomas, Thurston, Valley, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Wheeler, York

Ohio
Butler, Darke, Hamilton, Meigs, Mercer, Monroe, Preble, Van Wert, Washington

Pennsylvania
Greene

South Dakota
Charles Mix, Gregory, Lincoln, Minnehaha, Todd, Tripp

Virginia
Clark, Frederick, Loudoun

West Virginia
Barbour, Berkeley, Braxton, Calhoun, Clay, Doddridge, Fayette, Gilmer, Grant, Greenbrier, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Kanawha, Lewis, Marion, Marshall, Mason, Nicholas, Pleasants, Pocahontas, Preston, Putnam, Randolph, Ritchie, Roane, Taylor, Tucker, Tyler, Upshur, Webster, Wetzel, Wirt, Wood

Wisconsin
Adams, Brown, Calumet, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Fond Du Lac, Green, Green Lake, Grant, Iowa, Jackson, Jefferson, Juneau, Kenosha, Kewaunee, La Crosse, Lafayette, Manitowoc, Marquette, Milwaukee, Monroe, Outagamie, Ozaukee, Portage, Racine, Richland, Rock, Sauk, Sheboygan, Trempealeau, Vernon, Walworth, Washington, Waukesha, Waupaca, Waushara, Winnebago, Wood