The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Forest Service is announcing that western states federal grazing fees will be $1.35 per head month for 2022. The 2022 fee remains unchanged from 2021.

A head month is a unit the Forest Service uses to define a month’s use of the range by a cow/calf pair, by five goats or sheep, or by a single bull, steer, heifer, horse, burro, or mule. The grazing fee is calculated by considering the average annual change in beef cattle prices, leasing rates for grazing on private land in the western states, and the costs of livestock production.

The western states fee applies to approximately 6,000 permits administered by the Forest Service in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming and the national grasslands in Texas. Permit holders and should contact their local Forest Service office for more information.

Background

Congress established the formula used for calculating grazing fees in the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act and as amended in the 1978 Public Rangelands Improvement Act. It has continued under a presidential Executive Order in 1986. Under that Executive Order, the grazing fee cannot fall below $1.35 per head month and any change in fees cannot be more than 25% of the previous year’s level. Grazing fees apply to rangelands managed by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management in addition to the USDA Forest Service.

The grazing fee is calculated based on data collected annually by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistical Service, including the average annual change in beef cattle prices, leasing rates for grazing on private land in the western states, and the costs of livestock production.

The USDA Forest Service manages approximately 193 million acres in 44 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.