Drought conditions main concern at Governor’s Agricultural Summit.
South Dakota’s extreme drought conditions have only gotten worse over the past week.
It’s a major concern voiced by many farmers at the annual Governor’s Agricultural Summit in Aberdeen.
Another topic was the markets and looking at how South Dakota fits in on a global perspective.
The importance of free trade was one major subject that Lieutenant Governor Matt Michels wanted to discuss.
But the drought was the number one concern for farmers and producers across the state.
Now that more of the state is seeing these extremely dry conditions, local Farm Service Agents are seeing an increasing number of phone calls.
They have plenty of programs to deal with drought-stricken areas including the release of CRP acreage for emergency grazing that all counties are eligible for, livestock forage program for counties that have been designated as D3 on the drought monitor or for D2 counties after 8 weeks at that status, emergency water assistance on acres that are traditionally grazed, water hauling assistance as well as the noninsured crop disaster assistance.
Managing economics has been another key concern during the drought that SDSU Extension staff has heard from their weekly workshops around the state.
The Governor’s Drought Task Force continues to look for more ways to help out the state’s farmers and producers.