WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) today called on U.S. Secretary of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) Tom Vilsack to extend emergency grazing of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands to help livestock producers hit hard by lingering and intensifying drought.The following is the text of the letter sent today to Secretary Vilsack:Dear Mr. Secretary: Thank you for your continued commitment to provide every USDA resource to help producers and communities deal with the devastating effects of ongoing drought. While many parts of the country and Kansas have received much-needed rainfall, areas of Western Kansas continue to suffer from multiple years of severe drought.On July 11, you received a letter asking for the swift and unrestricted release of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres for emergency haying and grazing. On July 16, the Kansas State Farm Service Agency (FSA) Committee, FSA Executive Director Adrian Polansky, and the State Technical Committee released CRP acreage for haying and grazing.Due to the lingering, and in some cases intensifying, drought, we ask you again to swiftly authorize actions to allow livestock producers to effectively respond to drought conditions.
Roberts, Moran call for extension of CRP grazing