U.S. District Judge John Coughenour is expected to make a decision regarding haying and grazing on Conservation Reserve Program acres this (Thursday) morning. The judge halted critical feed use activity approved by USDA with a temporary restraining order issued on July 9th in response to a lawsuit filed by the National Wildlife Federation. That restraining order remains in effect.

Last Thursday - the judge ordered USDA and NWF to work together to develop a compromise plan and suggested limiting total acreage available to 2.5-million acres. The USDA reportedly proposed a cap of three-million acres. USDA also proposed changing the end dates for haying and grazing. While the NWF appears willing to accept that compromise - they want to limit the program to applications already received - which covers 1.8-million acres.