Iowa's entire delegation in the U.S. House is pushing for an immediate release of Conservation Reserve Program acres in Iowa for haying and grazing.

As reported on Iowa Independent this week, CRP acres will be released for haying and grazing on Aug. 1, but that's not soon enough for livestock producers who are struggling with high feed costs due to the devastating floods this year. On Thursday all five of Iowa's congressmen — three Democrats and two Republicans — sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer asking for an immediate release of CRP acres for haying and grazing.

"Recent estimates have found that 15 percent of Iowa's hay and pasture acreage has been flooded and will be unavailable for haying and grazing purposes," the letter stated. The congressmen stated that they appreciate Schafer's willingness to open up CRP acres for haying and grazing on Aug. 1 following the nesting season for birds, "however we fear August 1st will be too late for many of our livestock producers. We respectfully ask you for an immediate, one-time statewide release of CRP acres for haying and grazing purposes, based upon the unprecedented historical flooding in our districts."

The letter was signed by Democrats Bruce Braley, Dave Loebsack and Leonard Boswell, as well as Republicans Tom Latham and Steve King.

Schafer was asked about an early release of CRP acres in a conference call with reporters Wednesday. The transcript and audio of the call is now available online. Schafer did not provide specifics, but said some possibilities are being studied. "We are reevaluating all options here as we look at the impact of the floods in the Midwest, the cropping patterns across the country," said Schafer. "I was hoping to make the decision on the '09 crop year as it relates to early release of CRP sometime in August, early September. We've accelerated that decision process. We're visiting about these things as we speak, and I hope to be making some announcements on which way we're going to go there over the next couple of weeks."

Iowa currently has approximately 1.8 million acres of land enrolled in the program. When enrolled in the program, land owners sign 10- to 15-year contracts with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and agree to leave the acres out of production. The farmers receive a payment from the government, and the program protects environmentally sensitive land and provides wildlife habitat. But CRP acres can be opened up for production when deemed necessary by the USDA.