Ranchers who have taken their land out of production in exchange for government payments will soon be able to open property for their own livestock and their neighbors' cattle in Juab, Cache, Box Elder, Millard and San Juan counties.
The number of conservation lands to be released and how long cattle can graze will be determined by local managers, said Bruce Richeson, Utah director for the U.S. Farm Service Agency, which overseas the conservation program.
"This is a little bit of help," said Kevin Stanley, Juab County director for the Farm Service Agency, on Wednesday. "But in this situation, anything we can do is important."
The federal government paid nearly $7 million to landowners enrolled in the reserve program in 2005, and more than $112 million during the past decade, according to the Environmental Working Group, a farm watchdog organization.
Government payments to ranchers for land held in the Conservation Reserve Program will be reduced by 10 percent during the emergency grazing period.
The measure comes at a time when nearly half of all state cattle have been forced off fire- and drought-stricken ranges. Ranchers will have to come up with $3.8 million for hay needed to feed their animals, say state officials.
In central Utah, where record fires burned out 363,000 acres in Beaver and Millard counties, only Millard has a grass bank of nearly 15,000 acres. Although 500 of those acres were burned, landowners in the program will continue to receive conservation subsidies for the charred acreage.
In another federal program, 39 applicants in 11 of the state's 29 counties have asked for funds to improve burned-out rangelands. Tribal and private landowners accepted into the program will receive $11 per acre until October of 2008.
A total of $425,000 has been requested while only $301,000 is available from the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The Farm Service Agency also has allocated $132,000 for water hauling in Garfield, Kane and San Juan counties.
The majority of the state's pastures and rangelands are in poor or fair condition for livestock - the state's No. 1 agricultural industry - according to a report released this week by the National Agricultural Statistics Service. About 37 percent of the state's pastures and ranges were listed as poor or very poor, while 35 percent were considered fair and only 28 percent were listed as good.
Getting help
Ranchers and farmers affected by record wildfires and severe drought may receive helpful information at http://extension.usu.edu/agribusiness.
