The current court mess involving opening Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres for haying and grazing continues after U.S. District Judge John Coughenour yesterday extended his temporary restraining order.
The court case is in Seattle involves USDA's May decision to open up all CRP acres for the Critical Feed Use program after the primary nesting season ends for grass-nesting birds. USDA did this to provide additional feed options for livestock producers facing higher costs for grains and other feed ingredients.
According to an article on AgWeb.com, the judge ordered USDA and members of the National Wildlife Federation, which filed the lawsuit to stop haying and grazing, to find a compromise by noon on Tuesday. He suggested that some acres be released, maybe up to 2.5 million, as part of a compromise.
Several livestock groups joined in filing a brief supporting opening the acres, including the National Pork Producers Council, National Cattlemen's Beef Association and Nebraska Cattlemen. The National Wildlife Federation was joined in the lawsuit by several state affiliates.
In his blog, DTN's Chris Clayton said the judge made it clear he believes USDA violated its regulations and a federal law requiring an environmental impact study before releasing CRP acres in this case. Performing such a study would take a lot of time, including being open for public comment. That would come to late for livestock producers looking for additional feed options.
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