Agricultural News
RMA's Haying and Grazing Date Adjustment Good News for Cattle Producers Badly in Need of Forages
Fri, 21 Jun 2019 11:44:34 CDT
Farmers who planted cover crops on prevent plant acres will be permitted to hay, graze or chop those fields earlier than November this year. In a decision announced this week by the USDA's Risk Management Agency to help mitigate the impact of recent weather-related challenges, producers in 2019 only will be allowed to begin work in their fields as early as September 1st. Allison Rivera of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association's DC office says that is great news for cattle producers.
"This will help farmers who were prevented from planting because of flooding and excess rainfall this spring which unfortunately hasn't just hit the Midwest but has (extended) as far south as our friends in Oklahoma," she said. "So, we realize it's a large group of states negatively affected by all this rainfall."
It had been speculated that RMA would be making this move. Rivera says, however, that the decision was made much easier by the leaders at RMA thanks to the encouragement of many of our Congressional leaders as well as an outpouring of requests from our rural communities across the nation. Rivera notes that in addition to moving up the date to hay, graze and chop - the RMA has also determined that sileage, hayage and baleage be treated in the same manner as haying and grazing, again just for 2019. Rivera assures that NCBA will continue to work with USDA and Congress if the need arises to revisit discussions on any future date revisions.
USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Bill Northey said in a statement that accompanied the announcement this week, "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. This change will make good stewardship of the land easier to accomplish while also providing an opportunity to ensure quality forage is available for livestock this fall."
Listen to Rivera speak more about the RMA's decision and how it will help producers dealing with the challenges of recent extreme weather events, with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays on today's Beef Buzz.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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