Chairman Roberts: USDA Extends Emergency CRP Grazing for Fire Stricken Ranchers

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today applauded the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) action to approve grazing of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands to aid ranchers devastated by ongoing wildfires started March 6, 2017, in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

“I appreciate the Department allowing Kansas ranchers who have lost their rangeland due to the largest wildfire in our state’s history access to timely, deliverable assistance,” Chairman Roberts said. “Producers in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas are struggling to feed what is left of their herds. They need all the help they can get.”

Kansas Counties affected include: Clark, Comanche, Ellis, Ellsworth, Ford, Hodgeman, Kiowa, Lane, Lincoln, Meade, Ness, Russell, and Seward.

Producers wishing to graze on CRP lands already enrolled in contracts with USDA should contact their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) officer. 

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