05/29/06 Auction ends, CREP begins

For 61 years the Rexburg Livestock Company held weekly cattle auctions, but no more. Owner Bob Remington has sold the auction site to developers. Remington says a lot of the pasture land that held the cattle has been sold off and is now covered with houses and other development. The long awaited Idaho CREP begins with a signup starting tomorrow. CREP is the voluntary water conservation program targeting Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer landowners. The goal is to conserve water by offering landowners a cash alternative. HAMMON "They'll get between 110 and 160 dollars an acre every year for the next 15 years." Idaho State Farm Service Agency Director Wayne Hammon says signups will continue until December of 2007 or when 100 thousand acres in 22 counties are enrolled. National Ag Statistics has started its annual June Agricultural Survey. More than 28 hundred Idaho farm and ranch owners will be contacted between now and June 13th. For more information, call 334-1507 in Boise. To find agricultural statistics for a particular county, state, or the nation, go to www.nass.usda.gov. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott