WASHINGTON - Farmers and ranchers in parts of drought-hit Montana and South Dakota are allowed to harvest hay from land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve, the Agriculture Department said last week.
USDA also provided $1.9 million for South Dakota and $90,000 to Montana in Emergency Conservation funds to construct or deepen wells, develop seeps and springs, install pipelines and haul water for livestock. Up to $2 million in additional funds was earmarked from Montana if needed. Haying on land idled in the long-term Conservation Reserve will provide a source of feed for livestock, USDA said. Haying was authorized until Aug. 28. Landowners without livestock can rent or lease the haying privilege to livestock producers in their county.
Emergency haying was authorized for 33 counties in Montana - Big Horn, Blaine, Broadwater, Carbon, Carter, Cascade, Chouteau, Custer, Dawson, Fallon, Fergus, Garfield, Glacier, Golden Valley, Hill, Jefferson, Judith Basin, Lewis and Clark, Liberty, Meagher, Musselshell, Phillips, Pondera, Powder River, Prairie, Rosebud, Sheridan, Stillwater, Teton, Toole, Treasure, Wheatland and Yellowstone. The counties also have been approved for emergency grazing of Conservation Reserve land.
In South Dakota, 28 counties were approved for emergency haying - Aurora, Bon Homme, Brown, Butte, Campbell, Corson, Dewey, Edmunds, Faulk, Haakon, Hand, Harding, Hughes, Hyde, Jackson, Jones, Lyman, Marshall, McPherson, Pennington, Perkins, Potter, Spink, Stanley, Sully, Walworth and Ziebach. They also were authorized for emergency grazing.:
