USDA Program Offers Hay and Pasture Relief

With ongoing dry conditions and a rainfall deficit affecting Tennessee, officials with the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) want to remind producers enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) that opportunities for managed haying and grazing exist. With a modification to their conservation plan, certain CRP stands established to permanent grasses (cool-season and native warm season grasses), are eligible to be cut for hay or grazed. Most eligible areas for managed haying and grazing are land that was enrolled in a general signup.

CRP participants can have the next annual payment reduced by only 25-percent for acres hayed or grazed this summer. Hay harvested under the managed haying option can be sold, offering an attractive financial incentive considering recently reported hay shortages and potential worsening conditions. Haying or grazing is only allowed once every 3 years on the same acreage.

NRCS Private Lands Biologist Mike Hansbrough says, “Most native warm season grass stands have become too thick for many species of wildlife. Removal of this grass with only one cutting will make the stands better for wildlife in the long term.” In the case of native warm season grasses, landowners can expect 30 inches or more of re-growth within a couple of months, providing for wildlife cover later this summer and into fall and winter. CRP continuous buffer strips, generally established in more sensitive areas, are not eligible for this haying or grazing option.