South Dakota Farm Bureau applauds U.S. Sen. John Thune’s (R-S.D) letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue requesting the reversal of a USDA requirement that forces farmers and ranchers to destroy useable hay that would soon be harvested according to a CRP mid-contract management practice.

“We fully support Sen. Thune's request to Sec. Perdue,” said Scott VanderWal, SDFB President. “The policy is incredibly wasteful, and especially in times of severe drought makes absolutely no sense to destroy good feed for livestock.”

The recent USDA notice requires certain CRP participants to destroy thousands of tons of hay as part of a management practice. This notice comes less than one week after USDA said it would release CRP enrolled acres for emergency grazing in six South Dakota counties that are classified as areas with severe drought or extreme drought conditions.

To read the full letter Sen. Thune sent to Sec. Perdue follow this link. https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/e4ffd09e-6d8e-485d-ab03-bc6792527be5/00CA8754EB4DA0CC250AB41B597CD2AD.-untitled-.pdf