Many drought stressed counties recently received permission to graze CRP acres, and many other counties have applied. They hope that it will relieve some of the grazing shortage due to the drought.

Or will it? CRP forage is not the panacea many people might think. After all, a portion of your CRP payment must be forfeited. And fresh growth of CRP grass this year has been stunted by the drought just like other pastures and hay fields. Plus, many CRP fields lack adequate fences or water. Add to this the challenge of sorting through all the dead plant material remaining from growth during previous years and your cows and calves might not be able to get the kind of nutrition they need.

What is it going to cost you to graze that CRP? Be sure to include poor calf gains in your figures if you graze pairs on CRP that contains more old dead growth than good, green feed. Cows won't milk as well and calves can't just pick the good grass out of the old growth.

Maybe the best way to graze CRP is to wean calves first. Then, once your cows are bred, they can rough it through the summer on low quality CRP forage if they don't need to produce milk for their calf.

A lot of blood, sweat, and tears have been spent worrying about drought and releasing CRP for grazing. But before you commit to grazing it, be sure it's the best choice for you.