Sen. Heitkamp Kicks Off Two-Day Drought, Farm Bill Tour Across Western North Dakota

WATFORD CITY, N.D., Aug. 10 -- The office of Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., issued the following news release:

U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) today kicked off her two-day tour of western North Dakota to hear directly from North Dakota farmers, ranchers, researchers, and Farm Service Agency (FSA) workers about the solutions they need now to weather the drought, and the critical programs that need to be protected and strengthened in the 2018 Farm Bill.

During the tour, Heitkamp is making several stops in Dickinson, Manning, Killdeer, and Watford City, with more visits tomorrow. Heitkamp has been working for months to provide relief for farmers and ranchers as they weather the drought. A member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Heitkamp helped write, negotiate, and pass the 2014 Farm Bill and has worked to implement and protect the Farm Bill for producers across North Dakota. She is looking ahead to making sure the 2018 Farm Bill works for North Dakota. This tour follows a Farm Bill tour Heitkamp did last summer across eastern North Dakota.

"Making sure our farmers and ranchers can weather this drought is about more than resources for the here and now - it's about planning ahead by making sure they're supported by strong safety net programs in the 2018 Farm Bill," said Heitkamp. "When I started in the U.S. Senate, one of my first and proudest achievements was helping write, negotiate, and pass a strong Farm Bill in 2014. Now, it's time to strengthen that bill - and that's why I'm visiting with farmers and ranchers across western North Dakota to talk about what they need most in a 2018 Farm Bill. What I've been hearing most - from meetings with Grazing Association ranchers to workers at FSA offices - is the acute need to protect and strengthen the programs that have helped farmers and ranchers try to keep their heads above water, especially as the drought and low commodity prices provide serious challenges. To help address these issues, I've worked to improve staffing at many North Dakota Farm Service Agency offices and make sure disaster relief programs are in place. There's still more we can do, and that's a priority in the next Farm Bill so we can support farmers and ranchers, and promote a healthy farm economy for generations to come."

Sitting down with North Dakota Grazing Association ranchers in Watford City to hear more about the array of challenges they have faced throughout the course of the drought, Heitkamp reinforced the need to make sure the 2018 Farm Bill includes long-term strategies that are designed to promote and protect North Dakota's ranching community. Specifically, Heitkamp pointed to programs like the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) she secured in the 2014 Farm Bill that were crucial to ranchers after the 2013 blizzard led to severe livestock losses. She also underscored her intent to make sure ranchers can count on such safety nets during severe weather, like drought. Heitkamp is also working to make sure that farmers and ranchers can access assistance with expenses they incur hauling hay or livestock long distances. Just last month, she successfully pressed the U.S. Senate Appropriations leaders to increase and expand funding to the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) to cover haying and livestock assistance.

Earlier today, Heitkamp visited FSA offices in both Stark and Dunn Counties, where she spoke with workers at each facility about the influx of drought-related inquiries the offices have received over the past several months, and the services and resources they need to accommodate the communities they serve. Following Heitkamp's call on U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue last month to quickly address inadequate staffing levels at FSA offices, USDA announced it would provide more staff at Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices around North Dakota, including in Stark County, to help farmers and ranchers get immediate drought assistance. Heitkamp also called on Perdue to make sure farmers and ranchers get the urgent financial planning tools, resources, and information they need to plan for the 2018 planting season.

Heitkamp also visited Manning where she met with leaders and researchers at the North Dakota State University (NDSU) Extension to talk about the impact the drought has had on soil, and what this means for upcoming planting seasons for North Dakota farmers and ranchers. Heitkamp has been calling for additional resources to make sure North Dakota has the ability to study nitrate levels in grasses - which can be lethal to cattle - and are often increased during a drought, as well as the impact of lower water levels on the health of farm soil. Advocating for boosted resources to support agricultural research to help make North Dakota agriculture safer, more efficient and effective has long been among Heitkamp's top priorities, and she will continue to fight for strong supportive agricultural research funding in the 2018 Farm Bill. In the 2014, Heitkamp helped make sure the Farm Bill recognized the importance of and continued critical ag research investments, including programs used by land grant institutions like NDSU.

For months, Heitkamp has been working toward an all-of-the-above approach to making sure North Dakota farmers and ranchers can weather the drought, as she seeks to implement lasting solutions that will protect them during extreme weather over the long term, including by:

* Securing promise from IRS to provide assurances to ranchers hit hard by the drought. After pressing Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner John Koskinen to announce to North Dakota ranchers who have been hit hard by the drought that they can defer capital gains tax payments for a four-year period on the sale of their cattle, Koskinen heeded her call - promising to provide advanced notice of eligibility by September 1 and to work with local, state and federal officials to educate the public about this important tax provision that helped save the livelihoods of many ranchers during the 1980s drought. If a rancher replenishes the cattle that were sold before the four-year extension, the capital gains payments are due. Now that ranchers will be notified of their ability to defer payments, they will have the time they need to replenish their herd and come back stronger than ever.

* Successfully pressing USDA to provide additional staffing at FSA offices across North Dakota. Just last month - following her outreach to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Sonny Perdue - USDA announced it would provide more staff at Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices around North Dakota to help farmers and ranchers get immediate drought assistance.

* Expanding haying and livestock assistance to North Dakota farmers and ranchers. Last month, the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations heeded Heitkamp's request to expand and strengthen the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) to assist North Dakota farmers and ranchers with hauling livestock and hay as well as water to drought-stricken areas. The Committee included her provision in the Agriculture Appropriations bill that was passed out of the full Committee and is now up for consideration by the full Senate.

* Opening up Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land for emergency haying and grazing. Last month, USDA leaders opened up CRP lands for haying within 150 miles of severe drought areas. That news came after Heitkamp's months-long push with the federal delegation when they successfully pressed USDA leaders to take bold action to help drought-impacted farmers and ranchers in North Dakota by designating agricultural disasters in counties in the state that have been severely impacted by drought. The designation opened up FSA disaster relief programs that Heitkamp pushed for in the Farm Bill, including emergency loans, to North Dakota farmers and ranchers. Producers in eligible counties have eight months to apply for emergency loans.

In June, Heitkamp launched her drought resources webpage to make sure farmers and ranchers can access local, state, and federal tools and assistance. These resources include haying and grazing options, tax information, mental health services, and resource eligibility requirements.