BY AMANDA HARRISON
Farmers worried about the rising price of cattle feed can still apply to use land originally set aside for conservation.
Michigan's summer drought has contributed to higher feed prices, backing farmers into a corner.
Christine White is the USDA Farm Service Agency State Executive Director. She said the USDA opened up land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program in mid August to help farmers with the rising costs.
"The secretary of agriculture decided to allow haying and grazing on CRP lands in order to either assist producers in MIchigan with feed or it could be sold to producers in other states who have even worse drought conditions."
Farmers who have CRP land are paid for not using it and penalized if they do. Because of the hay shortage the USDA has reduced the penalty.
White said there has been talk among farmers of sending more cattle to market if the price of feed can not be stabilized.
Applications for the CRP program must be turned in by Friday, August 31.