USDA Extends Emergency Grazing in Pennsylvania

Harrisburg, PA, November 12, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) today announced an emergency grazing extension for Pennsylvania producers on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres. 

“Continued drought conditions have deteriorated rangeland across the state causing a hardship for livestock producers,” said Gary H. Groves, State Executive Director in Pennsylvania. “The emergency grazing extension will expire on December 31, 2020 and will provide temporary relief to affected producers.” 

Producers who were previously approved for emergency grazing and wish to continue emergency grazing beyond the 90 calendar days must contact their local FSA office for approval. Producers will be required to obtain a modified conservation plan from NRCS that will determine the contract specific stocking rates and grazing duration based on the condition of the cover. The minimum residual height of the species of grass must be maintained during the selected grazing period. 

To date, 12 counties in Pennsylvania have triggered eligibility for emergency grazing on CRP acres.  Those Counties are Blair, Cambria, Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Huntingdon, Lycoming, McKean, Potter, Tioga and Union. A list by state and map of eligible counties are updated weekly and available on FSA’s website. 

Producers located in a county that, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, is designated as severe drought (D2) or greater on or after the last day of the primary nesting season are eligible for emergency haying and grazing on all eligible acres. Additionally, producers located in counties that were in a severe drought (D2) status any single week during the last eight weeks of the primary nesting season may also be eligible for emergency haying and grazing unless the FSA County Committee determines that forage conditions no longer warrant emergency haying and grazing. 

Producers who don’t meet the drought monitor qualifications but have a 40 percent loss of forage production may also be eligible for emergency haying and grazing outside of the primary nesting season. 

CRP Emergency Grazing Provisions 

Under the emergency grazing provisions, producers can use the CRP acreage for their own livestock or may grant another livestock producer use of the CRP acreage. The eligible CRP acreage is limited to acres located within the approved county. 

Participants must remove all livestock from CRP acreage no later than one day after the end of the emergency grazing period. There will be no CRP annual rental payment reduction for emergency haying and grazing authorizations.

For more information on CRP emergency grazing visit fsa.usda.gov/crp or contact your FSA county office. To locate your FSA office, visit farmers.gov/service-locator. For more disaster recovery assistance programs, visit farmers.gov/recover.

All USDA Service Centers are open for business, including some that are open to visitors to conduct business in person by appointment only. All Service Center visitors wishing to conduct business with the FSA, Natural Resources Conservation Service or any other Service Center agency should call ahead and schedule an appointment. Service Centers that are open for appointments will pre-screen visitors based on health concerns or recent travel, and visitors must adhere to social distancing guidelines. Visitors may also be required to wear a face covering during their appointment. Field work will continue with appropriate social distancing. Our program delivery staff will be in the office, and they will be working with our producers in office, by phone and using online tools. More information can be found at farmers.gov/coronavirus.