News

Baling frenzy seen in the Dakotas

A shortage of forage because of drought conditions in the Dakotas and further west has caused a scramble to bale hay where possible. Nebraska Farmers Union President John Hansen just drove through North and South Dakota, “There was a lot of haying in the roadsides. Anything that could be hayed was being cut and baled.”

Hansen tells Brownfield wheat fields were also in the mix, “This was straw that had not come out the back of the combine. This was the entire plant that had just been win-rowed and there was not enough wheat there to be cut and harvested so they were just baling it.”

Emergency grazing and haying is being allowed by the USDA on CRP lands in the Dakotas and Montana.

Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts issued an executive order Friday lifting federal and state restrictions on the hauling of hay to North or South Dakota. Both governors in the Dakotas have declared drought emergencies.