North Dakota Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak is asking USDA for more flexibility for livestock producers dealing with drought. After meeting with farmers and ranchers in southwestern North Dakota, Fedorchak said one immediate concern is emergency haying of Conservation Reserve Program acres. “We have now asked Secretary Rollins to extend the time,” said Fedorchak. Farmers and ranchers using emergency haying provisions currently have 15 days to remove hay bales from CRP ground. “We’ve asked Secretary Rollins to extend that to 30 days. It seems like a simple way to make life a little bit easier for our producers right now.” Fedorchak is also asking USDA to give state Farm Service Agency officials more authority over when emergency haying can begin. She said by the time the current USDA timeline allows haying, “a lot of the crops have shriveled up and the nutrition value in the fields has been diminished a lot.”
