Drought is intensifying in the northern Plains and a quarter of North Dakota, a cattle and wheat state, suffers extreme drought, according to the weekly Drought Monitor. With hot and dry weather expected to continue, USDA vastly expanded the region where ranchers can graze livestock on Conservation Reserve land.
The additional forage may help ranchers avert a culling of their herds.
Emergency grazing will be allowed throughout North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana, where drought conditions are worst, as well as almost all of Wyoming, the northern half of Nebraska, the northwestern corner of Iowa and the western third of Minnesota, said USDA. A week ago, it authorized emergency grazing in counties under moderate or severe drought in Montana and the Dakotas. It widened the emergency grazing region to any county within 150 miles of the originally designated counties.
“The drought has continued to deepen and the forecast is for hot, dry weather in the upcoming week in the northern Plains,” said USDA. The National Weather Service forecasts “much above normal” temperatures in the Plains, from Nebraska northward to the Canadian border in the coming week. Temperatures topped 100 degrees F in parts of the northern Plains in the past week, said the Drought Monitor, compounding arid conditions. “The most deterioration…occurred in the Dakotas.”
Along with allowing grazing of Conservation Reserve land, USDA said landowners who harvest hay from the land can donate it to drought-hit livestock producers. If they sell the hay, they will see a 25 percent reduction in their annual rental payment. USDA pays an annual rent to landowners who idle fragile land in the Conservation Reserve. Because of the drought, there will be no reduction in the annual rent if landowners graze livestock on the Conservation Reserve, which has goals of preventing erosion, protecting water quality and providing wildlife habitat.
To see a map of the emergency grazing area, click here.