NEW DISASTER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM OFFERED
TO TEXAS RANCHERS

Lockhart, Texas - The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) today joined the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to announce a new disaster assistance program now available to ranchers.

According to NRCS, the Grassland Reserve Program (GRP) assists landowners and operators in protecting grazing uses and other related conservation values by restoring and conserving eligible grassland and certain other lands through rental contracts and easements.

GRP allows landowners in drought stricken counties to be compensated to defer cattle grazing until grassland conditions improve.

"Cattlemen are always talking about which disaster was the worst," TSCRA Director Beau White, a rancher from Rosanky, Texas, who spoke at the press conference, said. "In my short experience, the answer is easy.  It is the one you are currently dealing with.

"This program comes at a time when Mother Nature is dealing Texas cattlemen some devastating blows through salt-water intrusion from hurricanes, wildfires and now severe drought.

"Cattlemen should carefully review the program to see if it may benefit their operations."

Interested ranchers can submit an application through their local USDA NRCS office. Applications will be accepted throughout the year. For more information, please contact Claude Ross, state GRP manager, at 254/742-9822 or Mark Habiger, NRCS assistant state conservationist for programs, at 254/742-9881.

Visit http://www.texascattleraisers.org/drought.html for additional information on the program.

From NRCS on 7-28-09:

Grassland owners in south Texas, the area hardest hit by the state's drought, will be given priority consideration to participate in USDA's Grassland Reserve Program (GRP), a $4.2 million conservation program in Texas.

"While GRP is open to anyone who owns grassland, we are giving priority consideration to drought areas so ranchers can protect their land resources through rental agreements or perpetual easements," said Don Gohmert, state conservationist for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Texas.

Extreme or exceptional drought has been designated in 78 counties in south Texas by the U.S. Drought Monitor. Landowners in these counties can sign-up for GRP to be compensated to defer cattle grazing until grassland conditions improve.

"Areas in South Texas are the driest in the entire country based on USDA's Drought Monitor," said Juan Garcia, Farm Service Agency (FSA) state executive director for Texas. "By enrolling in GRP, landowners can defer grazing, protect their land, and receive compensation."

GRP is a continuous sign-up program, but landowners are encouraged to apply as soon as possible to be eligible for the 2009 funding cycle, which ends in September.

The NRCS and FSA administer GRP, a voluntary program reauthorized in the 2008 farm bill to protect grazing uses and other related conservation values by restoring and conserving eligible grasslands and certain other lands through rental agreements and easements.

The enrollment options for GRP include:

• Rental agreements – 10, 15, or 20-year duration, USDA pays 75 percent of the grazing value in annual payments for the length of the agreement.
• Permanent easements – USDA makes payment based on the fair market value of the property less the grazing value.

Land that is privately owned is eligible for GRP. The land must be grassland for which the predominant use is grazing. Land that has been historically dominated by grassland and provides habitat for animal or plant populations of significant ecological value, or land that contains historical or archeological resources is eligible.

Land previously enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program is eligible for GRP. Publicly owned land is not eligible or land already under protection from conversion to non-grazing uses is also not eligible.