CRP emergency: Thune’s request aids livestock producers battling drought.
WASHINGTON — Help is on the way for drought-stricken livestock producers.
Two days after U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota, requested the reversal of a federal requirement that ordered producers to destroy hay on certain Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land, and the longtime senator’s request was granted Thursday morning.
The reversal of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s order comes amid a nasty drought striking South Dakota and much of the High Plains, with 244,144 people located in drought areas according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Now that the order has been reversed, certain CRP acres will be eligible for hay donation to livestock producers in drought-stricken counties.
According to Thursday’s press release, any county in which a part of its border lies within 150 miles of a county approved for grazing of CRP can donate hay to livestock producers.
The USDA will also allow immediate access to emergency grazing of CRP in counties lying within 150 miles of a county already approved for CRP emergency grazing, which includes several counties in north and west South Dakota.
"I will continue to work to work with Secretary Perdue to ensure our producers have the tools and resources needed to manage through these difficult drought conditions," Thune said.
And the Dakotas weren’t impervious to drought conditions.
"The most deterioration, however, occurred in the Dakotas, especially northwestern South Dakota and North Dakota, where the rapidly worsening conditions warranted expansion of moderate, severe, and extreme drought to many regions," states the most recent national drought summary from the U.S. Drought Monitor.