• Serious Graziers Will Meet in St. Louis for National Conference - News Release July 12th, 2006

• "NRCS This Week" - Ranchers Push for Conservation Help - April 19, 2006
  Text Version Click Here (pdf file)

• Good News About Dairy Grazing - Press Release - March 25th, 2006

• Announcement of Funding for the Management and Control of Invasive Species Affecting Grazing Land - Jan 19, 2006 News Release
  For more information please click here - USDA NRCS website

• John L. Merrill, founding member of GLCI, to receive prestigious Golden Spur Award

• USDA Announces 2005 Conservation Security Program Contracts - July 25, 2005 USDA News Release

• Third National Conference on Grazing Lands Planned - Click here for more information

• Johanns lauds voluntary conservation on private lands

• Pennsylvania's Grazing Partnership Effort - 25th Anniversary (1980 - 2005)

• USDA announces rules for Grassland Reserve Program - May 13, 2004 - USDA News Release

• Pete Jackson Memorial Established

• Grazing Lands Take Center Stage in Nashville!

• Second National Conference on Grazing Lands - An Overwhelming Success!!

• USDA Releases Additional $12.5 Million to Restore and Protect Grassland - September 24, 2003 -USDA News Release

National GLCI Steering Committee holds successful gathering in Wyoming

    Board members of the National Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) steering committee met Sept. 7-8 in Casper, WY, for their annual fall business meeting. The coalition is comprised of member producers representing nine industry organizations including the American Farm Bureau Federation, American Forage and Grassland Council, American Sheep Industry, the Dairy Industry, National Association of Conservation Districts, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Farmers Union, Society for Range Management, and the Soil and Water Conservation Society.

The coalition is chaired by Bob Drake and Oklahoma cattle producer who represents NCBA. Kim Stine of Fort Worth, TX serves as the National GLCI Coordinator.

Established in 1991, the primary mission of GLCI is to ensure that high quality technical assistance is available for privately owned grazing lands. Supporters of GLCI seek to offer this assistance on a voluntary basis and hope these efforts will increase the awareness of the importance of grazing land resources.

During the GLCI steering committee meeting in Wyoming, about 135 participants enjoyed a day touring the Hardy Ranch north of Douglas, WY. The tour was organized by Wyoming Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Wyoming Private Grazing Lands Team.

This family operation includes sheep, cattle, wildlife and mining sharing the rangeland. Gene Hardy and his daughter and son-in-law Michelle and Shawn Musselman and their two young children are in their second year of implementing improvement practices to their range through an Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) contract with assistance from NRCS.

Through water developments, fencing, and rotational grazing, the Hardy Ranch hopes to increase carrying capacity by about 30%. “NRCS has been great folks to work with, and in the end we will have a better ranch for the next generation,” said Shawn Musselman.

During the business meeting of the GLCI national steering committee, the group heard reports from leadership from several government agencies and their efforts on range and pasture lands management and research including the Agricultural Research Service, Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. NRCS State Conservationists from Texas, Missouri, Florida and California were also on hand to participate in the meeting.

For upcoming events, GLCI will host a Grazing Symposium on Tuesday, Jan. 29, in Louisville, KY at the joint meeting of the Society for Range Management and the American Forage and Grassland Council.

GLCI is also making plans to host its 4^th National Conference on Grazing Lands Dec. 13-16, 2009 in Reno, NV. Previously GLCI has hosted this conference in Las Vegas, NV; Nashville, TN; and in 2006 in St. Louis, MO.

The national GLCI Steering Committee will hold its annual spring business meeting Feb. 25-26 in Washington, DC. For more about GLCI efforts visit www.glci.org.

  28th Annual National Golden Spur Award

Giving Recognition to

Mr. John L. "Chip" Merrill

John L. "Chip" Merrill, of Crowley, Texas, runs the XXX Ranch in Tarrent County.  He was director of the Texas Christian University Ranch Management Program for 33 years before stepping back from Administration.  He served two additional years as Burnett Ranches Professor before retiring from TCU in 1996 as Director Emeritus.

Merrill is a Past President and Fellow of the International Society for Range Management and has received the Frederick Renner Award, its highest recognition for contributions to the profession.  He was the first recipient of the W.R. Chapline Land Stewardship Award from SRM.  He has served as a director and member of the executive committee of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and continues as a director and member of the executive committee of the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show and the Natural Resources Foundation of Texas, a trustee of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, a director of the Texas Wildlife Association and Renderbrook-Spade, Inc.

The Golden Spur honoree is a Past Director of the National Cattlemen's Association and chaired both the TSCRA and the NCA Research and Education Committees where he led the efforts to fund the first national beef consumer survey and establish the national Integrated Resource Management (IRM) Program.  He is a founding member of the national Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative, established to improve grazing management while maintaining private property rights and personal stewardship.  He was named Man of the Year in service to Texas Agriculture by Progressive Farmer Magazine in 2995 and was inducted into the State Fair of Texas Heritage Hall of Honor in 1998.  Merrill and his wife, Virginia, are the parents of three children - Suzanne, John Louis Jr., and William Lee.

The 28th Annual National Golden Spur Award will take place on Saturday, October 29th, 2005 at 6pm in Lubbock, Texas.

JOHANNS LAUDS VOLUNTARY CONSERVATION ON PRIVATE LANDS USDA Highlights

Performance and Benefits of Conservation Programs  

WASHINGTON, April 4, 2005-Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today announced major conservation achievements in 2004 resulting from USDA voluntary conservation programs for private lands in remarks to the National Association of Conservation Districts.

"Investments in conservation contribute to an increased quality of life for all Americans through cleaner air, soil and water and improved wildlife habitat," said Johanns. "Through the Bush Administration's cooperative conservation efforts, landowners are working in partnership with the government to produce tangible results, conserving natural resources for this generation, our children and our grandchildren."

USDA offers a portfolio of conservation programs that give producers the technical and financial assistance they need to develop more effective conservation plans that improve the environment and help rural communities. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Farm Service Agency (FSA) are in charge of USDA's conservation programs for private land management and environmental stewardship.

These 2004 conservation benefits and successes, along with the President's conservation budgets, support a continued cooperative conservation effort that gives farmers and ranchers the ability to become the best stewards of the land. In keeping with that vision, President Bush has proposed a strong budget for conservation efforts in fiscal year 2006, including $3.8 billion to continue implementation of the conservation programs authorized in the 2002 Farm Bill. These funds will allow USDA, landowners and operators to build on a tremendously strong record for cooperative, voluntary conservation.

National performance highlights of key conservation programs and initiatives operated by NRCS include:

Conservation Security Program (CSP): During the first year of the program, more than $35 million helped nearly 2,200 producers conserve and improve soil, water, air, energy, plant and animal life on nearly two million acres of tribal and private working lands. Environmental enhancement activities offered by applicants included improving wildlife habitat, air quality management and on-farm energy management.

Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP): Nearly $720 million helped almost 46,500 farmers and ranchers improve soil, air and water quality and related resources on private working lands. About 62 percent of EQIP funds were associated with livestock concerns. More than 8 percent of approved contracts were signed with limited resource producers and beginning farmers. Approximately 60 percent of funded practices directly impact one of the four national EQIP priorities while 40 percent reflect a primary impact on state or local priorities.

Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP): $90 million funded 550 conservation easements on nearly 115,000 acres of valuable farm and ranch land to protect it from conversion to nonagricultural uses. For every federal dollar invested through FRPP, an additional $2.28 has been contributed by participating state and local governments, nongovernmental organizations and landowners.

Grassland Reserve Program (GRP): $56 million funded more than 1,000 private landowners protect and restore grasslands, biodiversity and wildlife habitat and reduce soil erosion while sustaining viable working ranches on 283,000 acres. An additional $2 million was provided to help greater sage grouse conservation and recovery efforts in four western states. GRP is administered jointly by NRCS and FSA.

Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP): Nearly $275 million helped more than 1,000 private landowners restore, enhance and protect wetlands to maximize wildlife habitat and wetland functions and values on close to 200,000 acres. Restoration projects were completed on nearly 150,000 acres of wetlands and associated upland areas. The first two Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program (WREP) partnership projects were approved. More than $4 million was provided for the Lower Missouri River WREP project in Nebraska that will restore and enhance a total of 18,800 acres when the project is completed. Nearly $3 million was provided for a WREP project in Minnesota that will restore approximately 7,250 acres of environmentally sensitive wetlands throughout the state.

Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP): More than $27 million funded over 3,000 private landowners create, restore and enhance wildlife habitat for upland wildlife; wetland wildlife; threatened, endangered or at-risk species and fisheries as well as other types of wildlife. Of the more than 430,000 acres enrolled in the program last year, 21,000 acres will help threatened and endangered species. During the first year of the WHIP Salmon Habitat Restoration Initiative, 47 landowners, tribes and municipalities signed contracts and agreements totaling $3.3 million to improve nearly 900 acres of riparian habitat and to open hundreds of miles of streams for fish passage in five states.

Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA): $10.2 million assisted 723 agricultural producers address natural resource concerns by incorporating conservation into their farming operations while managing financial risk on 105,000 acres. More than 8 percent of approved contracts were signed with women and minority producers. AMA is available in 15 states where participation in the Federal Crop Insurance Program has been historically low.

Conservation programs operated by FSA include:

Conservation Reserve Program (CRP): First established in 1985, CRP protects natural resources and enhances the environment by allowing eligible farmers and ranchers to voluntarily establish long-term conservation practices on highly erodible and environmentally sensitive cropland. In fiscal year 2004, CRP paid farmers approximately $1.8 billion in rental and cost-share payments. Trees, grass and soil on CRP land remove an estimated 17 million metric tons of carbon per year from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. Land enrolled in CRP reduces wind erosion by 212 million tons per year. The program has reduced soil erosion by more than 443 million tons per year. During 2004, 76 percent of all applicants were accepted into the program, the highest acceptance rates in the program's history. As a result, the total acreage of CRP will rise to 35.6 million acres, or 90 percent of the total 39.2 million acres authorized under the Farm Bill.

Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP): CREP is a federal-state partnership that targets additional resources in defined geographic areas for conservation practices such as buffers and filter strips. Three new CREP agreements were established in 2004. The Ohio River Western Pennsylvania CREP will provide 100,000 acres of cropland or marginal pastureland to be devoted to conservation practices. A New Jersey CREP will improve water quality of streams flowing into the Atlantic Ocean with 30,000 acres of cropland and marginal pastureland being planted to filter strips, riparian buffers, grass waterways and contour grass strips. A New York CREP will enhance water quality in 12 major watersheds throughout the state.

Detailed information and performance data on NRCS voluntary conservation programs at the national and state levels can be found at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs and on FSA programs at http://www.fsa.usda.gov.