WASHINGTON D.C. (KMHL) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it is adjusting the 2019 final haying and grazing date for prevented planting acres from Nov. 1 to Sept 1.
The change allows farmers to use cover crops for grazing, hay and silage earlier this fall. It’s a move that was lauded by House Ag Committee Chair Rep. Collin Peterson.
“Farmers are in need of options and common-sense flexibility given this year’s disaster situation, where we have millions of acres of farm and rangeland impacted,” said Peterson. “The changes announced [Thursday] by USDA will go a long way toward providing farmers and livestock producers with options to address the forage situation in many parts of the country.”
The USDA says the change is for this year only.
Peterson added that he pushed Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue to make the change after hearing from hundreds of farmers at a town meeting. That meeting was held in Marshall near the end of May.
