Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced yesterday that agricultural producers in six Oklahoma counties and 27 north Texas counties currently being impacted by wildfires can remove dry grass on and move cattle to Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acreage, without facing charges for grazing value or the baled value of removed forage.

"The wildfires in Texas and Oklahoma have burned more than one million acres, devastating many rural communities, as well as our farmers and ranchers," said Johanns. Besides providing ranchers with pastures and feed for their cattle, allowing these areas to be grazed will also help lower the risks of additional wildfires, he said.

On a case-by-case basis, USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) county offices will grant authority for CRP participants to remove the dry grass for the next 30 days, Johanns said. FSA officials will work with local public safety officials to comply with local fire regulations. Producers can bale CRP grass to create firebreaks and reduce potential fire threats. Controlled burns are subject to local oversight and regulation. Any cover removed must be destroyed or donated to local livestock producers whose rangeland or pastureland has been destroyed by the wildfires.

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In addition, many livestock producers in the affected counties have lost a large portion of rangeland, pastureland and fences. On a case-by-case basis, FSA county offices will grant permission for CRP participants in these counties to move cattle to CRP land for the next 60 days. Authority is limited to livestock producers who actually lost pasture or fences due to the wildfires. USDA will not charge participating producers for the grazing value or the baled value of removed forage.

FSA will also provide cost-share assistance for producers whose CRP land was burned by the wildfires. The cost-share will be used to reseed damaged fields that would not regenerate without reseeding.

More information on the CRP wildfire assistance, including a complete list of eligible counties, is available at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov/fsa.asp.