07/25/08 Cattlemen praise decision on CRP Critical Feed Use

Washington Ag July 25, 2008 U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour ruled Thursday that all approved or pending applications for Critical Feed Use of CRP can proceed as originally intended by the USDA. Additionally, the judge said any new applicants who show at least 45-hundred dollars in reliance on the CFU will be eligible for the program. Washington Cattlemen's Association Executive Vice President Jack Field, who was in the courtroom yesterday, explains the reliance requirement. Field: "A few examples might be someone that purchased equipment with the intentions of using that for the management or harvest of CRP. Someone that's made management decisions on using their own forage in a manner that demonstrates a 45-hundred dollar impact. They file a declaration with the Farm Service Agency and then are able to move forward." New applicants must complete haying by September 30th and grazing by October 10th rather than the November 10th deadline. The WCA had submitted declarations to the court showing some ranchers had expended up to 40-thousand dollars in anticipation of using the emergency program when it starts August 1st in Washington. The Critical Feed Use program had been challenged by the National Wildlife Federation. I'm Bob Hoff.