Iowa officials want reserve land to help farmers

Gov. Chet Culver and Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey made the request on Thursday, in a letter sent to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schaeffer. They are asking that land now covered by the Conservation Reserve Program be released for growing hay and grazing as soon as possible.

The USDA has previously shown a willingness to release the land after nesting season--around Aug. 1. Culver and Northey wrote, however, that the land needs to be released sooner so farmers and livestock operators can make a swift recovery from flooding.

"Releasing this acreage will guarantee that our producers are able to stay in production while ensuring we have the safest, most plentiful and affordable food supply in the world," Culver and Northey wrote.

Environmental groups, which normally take umbrage when such conservation land is negotiated, said they supported Culver and Northey's request because it was limited to farming and grazing and appeared designed to get average farmer back on their feet.

"There was just huge widespread damage, particularly with farmers that have cow-calf operations and farmers who are raising sheep that depend on hay," said Hugh Espey, the executive director of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, which advocates from independent farmers and for environmental causes.

Espey said the strain that flooding has placed on small- and mid-sized farmers is particularly acute, so "limited hay and grazing activity, if it can be done in a way that is sustainable, is OK. It's good."

A phone call to the USDA was not immediately returned.

Releasing Conservation Reserve Program land would not be unprecedented. In the past, the USDA has released some land in the program when environmental conditions have caused hardships for farmers. Earlier this year, for example, the USDA allowed 26 North Dakota counties to open such land for grazing because of severe drought.

Reserve land is normally left idle, with strict limits on its use. Under the program, farmers are paid by the USDA to convert highly erodible cropland or other environmentally sensitive areas into use for native grasses or wildlife plantings over multiyear contracts.