WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following outreach by U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue today announced the agency will provide more staff at Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices in North Dakota to help farmers and ranchers get immediate drought assistance. USDA will send workers to each of the FSA offices in McHenry, Mountrail, Bowman, Golden Valley, Hettinger, and Stark counties, and they should be deployed in the next week.

The announcement follows Heitkamp’s request to Perdue last week when she asked him to provide adequate staffing levels at FSA offices in the state so farmers and ranchers can get immediate help to plan for the future. She also asked Perdue to address other challenges farmers and ranchers face because of the drought.

Heitkamp’s outreach Perdue follows a meeting she held more than a week ago in Bowman with more than 100 farmers and ranchers who have been hit particularly hard by the drought impacting the state. They specifically talked about the lack of adequate staffing across FSA offices, which Heitkamp said she would work to address. With eight percent of North Dakota’s FSA positions vacant, county staff members are facing bigger workloads due to personnel challenges combined with the need to quickly respond to the increase in conservation readjustment and drought assistance requests from ranchers. Heitkamp pressed Perdue to immediately staff these vacant positions so farmers and ranchers can immediately get the tools, resources, and information they need to plan for the 2018 planting season.

“One of the most consistently high praises I hear from farmers and ranchers in every part of our state is for the FSA staff that helps them consider their options, and plan for the next planting season. But in this severe drought, too many North Dakota offices are understaffed, or have their hands tied in terms of the help they’re able to offer,” said Heitkamp. “Our farmers and ranchers can’t wait weeks or months for an appointment for the information or resources they need from their FSA offices – they need assistance now. That’s why it’s great news that just days after my call on Secretary Perdue to boost staffing levels at FSA offices, he agreed, increasing FSA staff in the heart of the drought where our farmers and ranchers need them most. Secretary Perdue’s quick actions to help get farmers and ranchers assistance reinforce why he is the right person for the job, and I look forward to continuing to work with him to make more comprehensive, permanent improvements to the drought resources our farmers need now.”

Also based on feedback from the meeting in Bowman, Heitkamp asked Perdue to make sure ranchers are able to access the lands they need for foraging and examine ways official rainfall measures can more accurately reflect the situation on the ground.

About a week ago, 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. That 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.

Just last week, USDA allowed insurance providers to waive the 30-day ownership requirement for Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) Specific Coverage Endorsements (SCE) as long as ranchers provide proof of ownership – which Heitkamp also asked USDA to look into.

During Heitkamp’s meeting with ranchers in Bowman, she unveiled her push on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner John Koskinen to announce the notice that would allow ranchers to defer paying capital gains tax for a two year period on the sale of cattle due to the ongoing severe drought which has stretched for months across nearly 50 percent of the state. Throughout North Dakota, the drought has caused ranchers to pay top dollar for hay trucked in from neighboring states. With little rain on the horizon, ranchers have been forced to sell their livestock much earlier and at lower prices than usual. Click here to read Heitkamp’s letter to IRS Commissioner Koskinen.

Last month, 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.