In certain situations, landowners and operators may need to graze a field containing Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) continuous practices such as grass waterways (CP8A), contour grass strips (CP15A); filter strips (CP21); quail and upland bird habitat buffers (CP33), denitrifying bioreactor on filter strips (CP21B), or saturated filter strips (CP21S). The Farm Service Agency (FSA) must first authorize the incidental grazing on CRP in a field intended to be gleaned.
Grazing is incidental to the gleaning of the crop residue in a field, or before the harvest of a small grain and occurs after the harvest of crops from within the surrounding field, or during the dormant period of a small grain intended for harvest. The grazing cannot occur during the primary nesting season, which for Oklahoma is May 1 through July 1; and March 1 to June 1 in Texas. In addition, grazing can only occur if the approved cover for that practice has been established and the grazing will not adversely impact the purpose or performance of the practice.
All livestock shall be removed from CRP acreage no later than two months after incidental grazing begins. CRP participants utilizing incidental grazing will have a payment reduction for the acreage being grazed. Participants are also responsible, at their own expense, to reestablish a cover destroyed or damaged as a result of the incidental grazing.
If the acreage to be grazed is separated from the surrounding cropland by a fence, the CRP acreage shall not be grazed.
To find your local FSA office contact info, click here for Oklahoma and here for Texas.
Source: March FSA Oklahoma Newsletter