FACT SHEET

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

FARM SERVICE AGENCY

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January 2011

 GRAZE-OUT Program

Overview

The Food, Conservation, and 

Energy Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-

234) (2008 Farm Bill) provides 

for GRAZE-OUT payments for 

2008 through 2012 crop years to 

eligible producers who elect to 

use their acreage planted to wheat, 

barley, oats, or triticale for grazing 

by livestock and agree to forgo 

any other harvesting of the commodity on such acreage during the 

applicable crop year. 

Payment Eligibility Requirements

GRAZE-OUT payments are subject to the same basic eligibility 

requirements as commodity loans 

and loan deficiency payments 

(LDPs) including, but not limited 

to:

• payment limitation;

• person determination;

• beneficial interest;

• misaction or misinformation;

• offset or;

• adjusted gross income.

Application Period

The application period for 

GRAZE-OUT begins on the first 

day the crop is normally, mechanically harvested as determined 

by the county office committee 

(COC), and ends on March 31 of 

the calendar year following the 

year the crop is normally harvested.

Producers may file an application 

for GRAZE-OUT anytime during 

this application period. Applications may not be cancelled or 

withdrawn once submitted.

Eligible producers must request 

GRAZE-OUT payments at the 

local Farm Service Agency (FSA) 

county office.

Eligible Producer

Producers eligible for the 

GRAZE-OUT program are those 

considered eligible for a marketing 

assistance loan and who also meet 

all of the following requirements:

• Requests GRAZE-OUT 

payments on loan deficiency 

payment certification and 

application (Form CCC-633 

GRAZING) before March 31 

of the calendar year following 

the year the crop is normally 

harvested;

• Agrees to forgo any other 

harvesting of the commodity on the acreage planted for 

grazing by livestock;

• Retains beneficial interest 

through the date the crop is 

grazed out.

Eligible Acreage

Acreage eligible for the GRAZEOUT program include those 

planted in wheat, barley, oats or 

triticale that is not harvested by 

any means other than grazing.

NOTE: Crop acreage requested for 

GRAZE-OUT is not eligible for:

• Any other marketing assistance loan or LDP;

• A crop insurance indemnity 

or;

• Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP).

Eligibility and Ineligibility for 

Grazing Leases

Producers who lease cropland to 

a second party for grazing on the 

acreage or per head basis are:

• Not considered to have lost 

beneficial interest and;

• Eligible for GRAZE-OUT 

payments on the eligible commodity if all other eligibility 

requirements are met.

Producers are not eligible for 

GRAZE-OUT payments if any of 

the following occur:

• Grazing occurred on nurse 

crops that would not have met 

the definition of the crop if 

harvested as grain;

• Beneficial interest is lost and 

later regained;

• The crop is leased to a third 

party for grazing on a flat per 

acre rate;

• No grazing occurred or;

• Mechanical harvest occurred.

Filing Grazing Application 

Form CCC-633 GRAZING

Producers must use the farm serial 

number (FSN) when requesting GRAZE-OUT payments on 

the application form CCC-633 

GRAZING.

If multiple producers share in the 

acreage, the shared acreage must 

equal 100 percent of the grazed 

acreage and all signatures must 
FACT SHEET

GRAZE-OUT Program January 2011

be obtained before the request is 

considered complete.

To be considered eligible for 

GRAZE OUT, all applications, 

including applications received 

in person, by mail, fax or downloaded from the Internet, must be 

completed correctly, signed and 

returned to the local FSA county 

office on or before the final loan 

availability date, which is March 

31 of the calendar year following the year the crop is normally 

harvested.

Eligible producers must request 

the GRAZE-OUT application 

form CCC-633 GRAZING:

• After the date COC determines that wheat, barley, 

oats, or triticale is normally, 

mechanically harvested for the 

crop year for that applicable 

county and;

• No later than March 31 of 

the calendar year following 

the year the crop is normally 

harvested.

Producer Certification

Eligible producers must show on 

their application form CCC-633 

GRAZING the actual tract and 

field location for acres grazed or to 

be grazed. In addition, the acreage 

and intended use must be certified 

on FSA-578 (Report of Acreage).

Note: Producers must indicate 

“grazing” as the intended use.

Because the producer certifies that 

this information is correct, no additional documentation is requested from the producer at time of the 

request.

GRAZE-OUT Payment Rate 

and Calculations

GRAZE-OUT payment rates are 

calculated by multiplying the 

actual grazed acreage requested 

times the applicable yield times 

the payment rate. For triticale, the 

payment rate is calculated based 

on the predominant class of wheat 

in the county where the producer’s 

farm is located.

The GRAZE-OUT payment rate 

is determined by the amount that 

the applicable commodity loan 

rate exceeds the CCC-determined 

value for the county where the 

acreage is grazed.

The GRAZE-OUT payment rate 

is the rate in effect on the day the 

request is completed.

The request date is the day the 

local FSA county office receives 

a signed and completed CCC633 GRAZING application form 

from all applicable producers 

on the farm. All entries on form 

CCC-633 GRAZING must be 

completed when the application is 

submitted.

Applicable Payment Yield

For GRAZE-OUT, applicable 

payment yields are defined as the 

yield in effect for the calculation 

of the direct payments according 

to 7 CFR, Part 1412.

In the case of a farm for which a 

direct payment yield under the Direct and Counter-cyclical Program 

(DCP) yield is unavailable for a 

covered commodity, the producer 

may submit actual production 

harvested as grain on the same 

farm or another farm in the same 

area, or the COC may establish 

a yield based on their judgment 

and knowledge of practices and 

growing conditions in the county 

with documentation supporting the 

COC established yield.

Records

Producers requesting GRAZEOUT payment should maintain 

records for a period of three years 

after the date of the payment to 

document eligibility.

For more information about this 

and other FSA programs, please 

contact a local USDA Service 

Center, or visit www.fsa.usda.gov.

 

 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture 

(USDA) prohibits discrimination in all 

of its programs and activities on the 

basis of race, color, national origin, 

age, disability, and where applicable, 

sex, marital status, familial status, 

parental status, religion, sexual orientation, political beliefs, genetic information, reprisal, or because all of part 

of an individual’s income is derived 

from any public assistance program. 

(Not all bases apply to all programs.) 

Persons with disabilities who require 

alternative means for communication 

of program information (Braille, large 

print, audiotape, etc.) should contact 

USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-

2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, 

Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 

Office of the Assistant Secretary for 

Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Stop 9410, Washington, DC 

20250-9410, or call toll-free at (866) 

632-9992 (English) or (800) 877-8339 

(TDD) or (866) 377-8642 (English Federal-relay) or (800) 845-6136 (Spanish 

Federal-relay). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

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