New Rockford, North Dakota rancher Jeff Schafer has already taken oats out of seed production and cut and baled them for cattle feed. Schafer said not all producers are willing to take that leap of faith. “The most important thing right now is to get boots on the ground and make assessments. The producer needs to know a dollar amount and have all the facts on the table.” Schafer adds that financially, producers are obviously better off harvesting a crop. “But ultimately, in order to sustain the cowherd, we need feed production. The cowherd is the factory, and we need to do everything possible to sustain that factory.” One other question Schafer asked was, “If this drought persists, how will the grazing and haying of Conservation Reserve Program acres be managed moving forward?” Hear more in the interview with Schafer.