Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) sent a letter on Sept. 26 to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue to ask federal officials to help north central Oregon farmers and ranchers continue their wildfire recovery efforts by allowing them increased opportunities for emergency haying and grazing.
In their letter the trio asked USDA to allow emergency haying and grazing on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land in Gilliam County and extend the emergency haying and grazing period in Wasco, Sherman and Wheeler counties.
“The loss of grazing land in particular presents an ongoing concern for producers in the area, and the opening up of CRP land in Wasco, Sherman and Wheeler counties has proven invaluable to producers in those counties,” they wrote, asking for an extension from the Sept. 30 authorization to Feb. 28, 2019.
