South Central Reporter

In an Aug. 3 Facebook post, Rep. Mike Coffey shared information for his constituents who may have been affected by the drought that Illinois is under. Emergency haying and grazing is available for some counties, from Aug. 2 until September 30.

"USDA Farm Service Agency has announced that 89 Illinois counties will be eligible for emergency haying and grazing of Conservation Reserve Program acres from Aug. 2 to Sept. 30," Coffey said.

As of July 9, Farm Week Now quoted the U.S. Drought Monitory, saying that “all or parts of 27 Illinois counties are in moderate drought,” with portions of Champaign, Douglas, Edgar, Moultrie, Platt and Vermilion in severe drought conditions. And there are many other counties in moderate drought too – including Grundy, Kendall, Massac, Pope, Hardin, Gallatin, Saline, Logan, Wabash, DeWitt, Macon, Shelby, Will, Ford, Iroquois, and Clark.

In his Facebook post, Rep. Coffey shared a link to Farm Progress, with the news about the availability of acreage for emergency livestock feed. That article, dated Aug. 1, announced that the 89 Illinois counties are eligible for relief from the Conservation Reserve Program acres. The publication noted that participants are limited to a single hay cutting of CRP acreage, if they live in these counties: Adams, Alexander, Bond, Boone, Brown, Bureau, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Clinton, Coles, Cook, Crawford, Cumberland, DeWitt, DeKalb, Douglas, DuPage, Edgar, Effingham, Ford, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Grundy, Hancock, Hardin, Henderson, Henry, Iroquois, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jersey, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Knox, LaSalle, Lake, Lee, Livingston, Logan, Macon, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Mason, Massac, McDonough, McHenry, McLean, Menard, Mercer, Monroe, Morgan, Moultrie, Ogle, Peoria, Perry, Piatt, Pike, Pope, Pulaski, Putnam, Randolph, Rock Island, St. Clair, Sangamon, Schuyler, Scott, Shelby, Stark, Stephenson, Tazewell, Union, Vermilion, Warren, Washington, Whiteside, Will, Williamson, Winnebago and Woodford. Residents of Sangamon, Christian, and Macon counties should reach out to their local FSA office to learn more about haying and grazing use of CRP acres.

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) was established in the 1985 Farm Bill, and is managed by the Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency. Producers can enroll land into the CRP by signing up, according to the Environmental Working Group. Those farmers selected to participate can enter a 10 or 16 year contract, and are paid for some of the cost to establish the cover practice, as well as annual rental payments.