BOWMAN — Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., spent time speaking with farmers and ranchers in southwest North Dakota Thursday afternoon about challenges they are facing during the ongoing drought.
“For me, it’s getting out here, talking, finding out how we can help.” On June 23, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue authorized emergency grazing of conservation reserve program lands in North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana for counties in a U.S. Drought Monitor status of D2 or higher.
Emergency haying of CRP has not yet been authorized.
Due to the nesting times of birds on the lands, the CRP land won’t be released for emergency haying until Aug. 2 and only half of the land would be available by law.
While haying the land could help some ranchers feed their cattle, Heitkamp noted it would not solve the problem.
Jerid Janikowski, who ranches in North and South Dakota, said even if the CRP land was open to haying, it would not help them very much to have it on Aug. 2 because it would likely not be suitable for feeding.
In drought conditions, ELAP can assist producers with the additional cost of transporting water to eligible grazing lands.
CRP lands are not eligible for this, something ranchers in the crowd want changed.
That’s what they’re looking for is, ‘Where do we go?’ ” Janikowski believes half of the grain on ranches in southwest North Dakota are not suitable for hay.
However, some in the crowd brought up that they do not sell their cattle to replenish their herds, so they would not be able to benefit from this.