ElB-Boarder & Trainer, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 11,2003
Pro-Tek offers a variety of
electric fence solutions to meet
your needs.
Pro-Tek Electric Braid
Pro-Tek Electric Rope
Pro-Tek Electric Tape
All combine safety, low
maintenance and easy installation
CALL RAMMFENCE TODAY
FOR LOW, LOW PRICING!
Grassland Reserve Program Offers
Funds For Working Lands
WASHINGTON, D.C.
The national Grassland Re
serve Program (GRP) offers
funds to farmers and ranchers
who maintain working grass
lands. The 2002 Farm Bill
amended the Food Security Act
of 1985 to include authorization
for this program.
Nationwide sign-up for the
program began on June 30.
Natural Resources Conserva
tion Service officials in Pennsyl
vania are helping to coordinate
and promote the program in
the state.
Jana Malot, NRCS natural
resources specialist in Pennsyl
vania, recently gave an over
view of the program during Ag
Progress Days.
“We’re not paying you to
stop using land,” Malot said.
“We’re paying you to keep
using land in a very wise man-
ner.”
Among others benefits, the
GRP offers funds to graziers
and hay producers for doing a
good job maintaining working
grasslands.
“Grasslands provide critical
ecological benefits and play a
key role in environmental qual
ity, as well as contributing to
the economies of many rural
areas,” said U.S. Secretary of
Agriculture Ann Veneman.
“This voluntary program helps
protect valuable grasslands
from conversion to other land
uses, thus helping to ensure this
national resource is available to
future generations.”
Grasslands make up the larg
est land cover on America’s pri
vate lands. Privately-owned
grasslands. and shrublands
cover more than 525 million
acres in the U.S. For the first
time, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture will direct financial
resources and technical exper
tise to help landowners protect
and restore these lands.
Applications for participa
tion will be accepted on a con
tinuous basis at local USDA
service centers. Once funding
has been exhausted, eligible ap
plicants will remain on file until
additional funding becomes
available. Veneman previously
announced that $49.9 million in
fiscal year 2003 funds are avail
able to implement GRP.
The Natural Resources Con
servation Service, Farm Service
Agency and Forest Service are
coordinating implementation of
GRP, which helps landowners
restore and protect grassland,
rangeland, pastureland, shrub
land and certain other lands
and provides assistance for re
habilitating grasslands. The
program will conserve vulner
able grasslands from conversion
to cropland or other uses and
conserve valuable grasslands by
helping maintain viable ranch
ing operations.
When properly managed,
grasslands and shrublands can
result in cleaner water supplies,
healthier riparian areas and re
duced sediment loadings in
streams and other water bodies.
These lands are vital for the
production of forage for domes
tic livestock and provide forage
and habitat for maintaining
healthy wildlife populations.
These lands also improve the
aesthetic character of the land
scape, provide scenic vistas and
open space, provide for recrea
tional activities and protect the
soil from water and wind ero
sion.
GRP offers producers several
enrollment options: permanent
easements, 30-year easements,
rental agreements (10,15, 20 or
30-year duration) and restora
tion agreements. For perma
nent easements, USDA makes
a payment based on the fair
market value of the property
less the grazing value. For
30-year easements, USDA pays
30 percent of what would be
paid for a permanent easement.
For rental agreements, USDA
pays 75 percent of the grazing
value in annual payments for
the length of the agreement.
For restoration agreements,
USDA pays up to 90 percent of
the restoration costs on grass
land and shrubland that has
never been cultivated and not
more than 75 percent on re
stored grassland and shrubland
(land that once was cultivated).
To participate in GRP, offers
must be private land that in
cludes at least 40 contiguous
acres. Additional eligibility cri
teria are described in the “No
tice of Availability of Program
Funds for the Grassland Re
serve Program” that was pub
lished in the Federal Register
on June 13, 2003, and is avail
able on the NRCS Web site list
ed below. This notice applies
only to fiscal year 2003 funds
and will be used for the initial
sign-up.
For more information about
GRP and other conservation
programs, contact your local
USDA Service Center, listed in
the telephone book under U.S.
Department of Agriculture, or
online at http://
ofiices.usda.gov/. Information,
including Federal Register no
tices and rules, also is available
at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/
programs/farmbill/2002.
BUY,
SELL,
TRADE
OR
RENT
THROUGH
THE
CLASSIFIED
ADS
IN
Lancaster
Farming
PHONE:
717-626-1164
OR
717-304-3047
FAX:
717-733-0050
Mon., Tties.,
Wed., Fri.
8 AM to 5 PM
Thors.
7 AM to 5 PM