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