BOWMAN, N.D. – Directly responding to growing concerns she has heard across North Dakota, U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today convened North Dakota ranchers, local leaders, and experts on the ground in Bowman to talk about solutions to challenges they currently face related to the drought, and discuss how to best prepare down the road.

At the meeting at the Bowman Auction Market, Heitkamp 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.

“Farmers and ranchers are no strangers to scorching heat or blistering cold – caring for and tilling our land to produce the crops that feed the nation. But this extreme drought has hit them hard – and with more heatwaves on the horizon, avoiding preparing is not an option,” said Heitkamp. “Today I sat down with ranchers, conservation experts and leaders in Bowman about the challenges they’ve faced so far – from lacking hay or land to graze their cattle, to issues they could soon face – like the financial hit of selling their livestock too early, or concerns about nitrate levels in failed crops that are being fed as forage. It’s because of them that I’m calling on the IRS to make sure our counties impacted by the drought have the time they need to replace their herd so this drought doesn’t put families out of business. And it’s ranchers’ concerns I’ve been reinforcing to USDA so we can open up more resources like CRP acres for haying and grazing. Our farmers and ranchers need support to weather this drought.”

Click here to read Heitkamp’s letter to IRS Commissioner Koskinen.

Ranchers from the Little Missouri Grazing Association and the Stockmen’s Association told Heitkamp about their concerns regarding the increasingly urgent need to open Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands for haying. Heitkamp reinforced that she will continue pressing USDA to open up CRP lands for haying like she did just last week when she and the federal delegation urged U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) leaders to do everything they can to support North Dakota ranchers in drought-stricken areas – including opening up more CRP acres for haying to help ranchers access forage before it loses its nutritional value. That same day, USDA heeded part of their call, providing ranchers more flexibility by allowing grazing in any county whose border is within 150 miles of a county with severe drought.

Last week after pushing USDA leaders to take bold action to help drought-impacted farmers and ranchers in North Dakota, Heitkamp announced USDA has heeded her call by designating agricultural disasters in counties in the state that have been severely impacted by drought.  That designation opens up Farm Service Agency (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.

Earlier this month, Heitkamp launched a webpage aimed to provide useful information that can help connect North Dakota farmers, ranchers and community members with the federal, state, and local resources – from haying and grazing options to tax information to mental health services – to help them cope and weather this drought. Click here to view Senator Heitkamp’s webpage.