Posted 08/17/2020

For immediate release:

Aug. 17, 2020

For more information, contact:

Dan Rorvig, NDSA president: (701) 797-7338 • rorvigranchco@gondtc.com

Julie Ellingson, NDSA executive vice president: (701) 223-2522 • jellingson@ndstockmen.org

Elizabeth Neshem, NDSA communications director: (701) 223-2522 • eneshem@ndstockmen.org

North Dakota Stockmen’s Association pleased with

Risk Management Agency’s announcement for prevented plant flexibility

The North Dakota Stockmen’s Association (NDSA) welcomed the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency’s (RMA) announcement this morning that farmers who planted cover crops on prevented plant acres in select counties in North and South Dakota will be permitted to hay, graze or chop those fields beginning Sept. 1 rather than Nov. 1 this year. The change is being made because of excessive moisture and flooding in 42 counties in the two states.

“They say ‘when it rains, it pours,’ and that is definitely how many North Dakota ranchers have felt over the last several months,” said Dan Rorvig, a McVille, N.D., cow-calf producer and NDSA president. “Between the weather challenges and the market impacts of the COVID pandemic, these have been difficult times for our state’s cattle ranchers. We appreciate RMA’s decision to grant some flexibility for the utilization of cover crops on prevented plant acres, which will be helpful in addressing some of these issues.”

Rorvig explained that the Nov. 1 date unnecessarily penalizes producers in Northern states who often face early winters that prohibit the use of cover crops after Nov. 1. “Sept. 1 is a much more reasonable date for our Northern conditions,” he said.

The change still will allow producers to maintain eligibility for their full 2020 prevented planting indemnity. North Dakota’s prevented plant acres are expected to reach 3 million acres this year, accounting for approximately one-third of all prevented plant acres in the country.

Qualifying counties in North Dakota including the following: Barnes, Benson, Bottineau, Cass, Dickey, Eddy, Foster, Grand Forks, Griggs, Kidder, LaMoure, Mcintosh, Nelson, Ramsey, Ransom, Rolette, Sargent, Sheridan, Steele, Stutsman, Towner, Traill and Wells Counties.

This change has been a priority for the NDSA over the past year. It has worked alongside the North Dakota Congressional delegation in advocating for an earlier cover crop utilization date and had direct conversations with RMA Administrator Martin Barbre about the importance of this to North Dakota’s agricultural producers. Last week, the NDSA joined with the North Dakota Corn Growers Association, North Dakota Farm Bureau, North Dakota Farmers Union, North Dakota Grain Growers Association, North Dakota Soybean Growers Association, Northern Pulse Growers Association and U.S. Durum Growers Association in appealing to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to make this change as well.

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