The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association applauded the introduction of the PASTURE Act of 2020.
The legislation is bipartisan and bicameral and stands for Pandemic Authority Suitable To Utilize Reserve Easements.
“Yesterday’s introduction of the bipartisan, bicameral PASTURE Act is a welcome step toward providing grazing flexibility to livestock producers during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane. “As farmers and ranchers are keeping and feeding livestock for longer periods of time, Congress must ensure that producers do not face a forage shortage. Emergency haying and grazing of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acreage is a relied upon practice for livestock and forage management. The PASTURE Act gives USDA the ability to open CRP acreage for emergency haying and grazing during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The NCBA and all 35 of its state affiliates sent a letter to Congress urging action on May 15.
The bill was introduced by Angie Craig (D-MN) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) in the House and Tina Smith (D-MN) and John Thune (R-SD) in the Senate.
“NCBA looks forward to continued work with both Republicans and Democrats to ensure that cattle producers receive much-needed flexibility during this unprecedented time.”