The USDA announced a one-time change on Thursday to its rules on harvesting forage and grazing livestock on prevented-planting cropland. The move was meant to assure there will be enough livestock feed this year, particularly for dairy cattle. Millions of acres of crops were not planted this spring due to the cold and rainy weather, which also slowed the growth of hay and other forage crops.
Some farm groups in the upper Midwest worry that forage will be in short supply in the months ahead because of smaller grain and hay crops. The USDA said haying and grazing of cover crops on prevented-planting land can begin on Sept. 1 rather than the usual Nov. 1. The change means farmers will have access to the land while the growing season is still underway.
“We recognize farmers were greatly impacted by some of the unprecedented flooding and excessive rain this spring, and we made this one-year adjustment to help farmers with the tough decisions they are facing this year,” said Agriculture Undersecretary Bill Northey, who oversees the farm program.
“This is an incredibly important change to ensure livestock producers have the necessary feed to properly care for their animals throughout the rest of this year,” said Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. “Our farmers who were prevented from planting because of flooding and excess rainfall this spring will now have the opportunity to hay, graze, or cut cover crops for silage, haylage, and baleage.” House Agriculture chairman Collin Peterson said the change in rules “will go a long way toward providing farmers and livestock producers with options to address the forage situation in many parts of the country.”
Martin Barbre, administrator of the USDA’s Risk Management Agency, which oversees the crop insurance system, said the agency “will evaluate the prudence of a permanent adjustment [of haying and grazing dates] moving forward.”