By Jason Stuart
Ranger-Review Staff Writer
Dawson County and local Farm Service Agency officials have decided to move forward with drafting drought disaster declarations for the county as the region remains in the grips of a growing extreme dry spell.
The Dawson County Commissioners voted on Wednesday to move forward with drafting the drought disaster declaration, which they will submit to Gov. Steve Bullock for approval. The local FSA office is also drafting a counterpart declaration to be sent to the Secretary of Agriculture for approval on the federal side.
County Commissioner Doug Buxbaum, who is also a farmer, said Dawson is not alone in going this route as drought conditions continue to grow across northeast Montana.
“Quite a few counties in Eastern Montana have jumped on the (disaster) declarations too,” Buxbaum said. “It’s here, there’s no doubt about it.”
Buxbaum added that he expects approval of the declaration from the governor’s office in relatively short order.
“I know we’ve sent some in before and it wasn’t very long after that that the governor jumped on it. I would say in a week to 10 days, we should get a response,” he said. “The governor is well aware of the issues ... he’s well aware of the drought.”
As for what kind of relief the declaration may bring with it if approved at both the federal and state levels, local FSA officer Shelly Gustafson said an officially approved drought disaster declaration would provide local farmers and ranchers with three possible avenues of aid.
One thing it would do is provide tax breaks for ranchers when they sell cattle at market. The other aid it would offer, Gustafson said, is that it would open up emergency loans available through the Farm Loan Program. Lastly, it would also make emergency loans available through the federal Small Business Administration.
Gustafson stressed that there are no specific FSA aid programs which are opened up due to a drought disaster declaration, adding that relatively few farmers or ranchers would be likely to pursue the emergency loan options. However, she said the emergency tax breaks can provide a critical aid boost for ranchers.
“(A drought disaster declaration) really doesn’t drive our (FSA) programs at all, but the tax break is huge for people selling livestock,” Gustafson said.
Other FSA emergency aid programs may come online for Dawson County farmers and ranchers if the drought continues, whether or not a disaster declaration is approved, Gustafson noted.
One is the Livestock Forage Program. Gustafson said that emergency aid program may soon be available to local ranchers, as it kicks in when the National Drought Monitor designates an area as “D3,” which translates to “extreme drought.” In the latest version of the drought monitor, released earlier this week, most of Dawson County, except for the extreme northwestern corner, is labeled as “D1” (moderate drought).
The Livestock Forage Program would kick in immediately if the county were to be rated “D3,” Gustafson noted, or could kick in if the county were labeled as “D2” (severe drought) for two consecutive weeks.
However, Gustafson noted that the Livestock Forage Program will likely be open to Dawson County ranchers here in the coming days. Another way it can be opened up is if a “contiguous county” reaches the D3 designation, which the northwestern corner of neighboring McCone County has in the latest version of the National Drought Monitor.
Another bit of relief that is on offer for local agriculture producers is that any acres they have enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program could be opened up for emergency haying and grazing.
By federal regulations, CRP acreage generally cannot be opened up due to emergency until after July 16 — to account for the spring bird nesting period. However, Gustafson said on Friday morning she was working with her superiors in the FSA and at the U.S. Department of Agriculture to try to get a waiver to allow local producers to go ahead and open up their CRP acreage before July 16.
Later Friday afternoon, word came down that the USDA had in fact authorized an early opening of CRP acres in Dawson County to grazing and haying in response to the worsening drought.
Finally, the FSA has another emergency program to help ranchers provide water for their livestock during a drought. Gustafson said the program is not yet open to Dawson County producers, but soon could be “if we get enough calls” requesting it.
Buxbaum said that with the drought conditions only becoming more severe, the aid programs available through the FSA and the additional options opened up through the disaster declaration may be the only way some producers manage to make it through what is shaping up to be a lost agricultural season.
“It’ll be survival for some of these people,” Buxbaum said.
Reach Jason Stuart at rrreporter@rangerreview.com.
