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Drought Townhalls Held

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North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring hosted town hall meetings Wednesday and Thursday. During the meeting, farmers, ranchers and other area residents in the Washburn, Rugby and Medora areas discussed the challenges created by extreme drought conditions. Leadership reviewed the state’s response and answered questions. More than two-thirds of North Dakota is in extreme or exceptional drought, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor.
 
The meetings were livestreamed on the governor’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/GovernorDougBurgum/. For information on drought relief resources, visit www.ndresponse.gov.

Communicate Planting Decisions

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Preparations for the 2021 planting season are underway. That’s why the North Dakota Department of Agriculture is encouraging farmers to communicate with neighbors while making decisions. In a statement, Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said communication about plantings and their field locations will help mitigate potential off target impacts to vulnerable crops.
 
“We recognize that we’ve had challenging years with off target pesticide impacts to adjacent vulnerable crops. With rising market prices, producers may also be encouraged to plant more soybean acres next year,” Goehring said. “Some of the issues we’ve seen could have been avoided through better communication and planning. We believe communicating with your neighbor about what crops you will be planting, and their field locations, will help to mitigate many potential off target impacts to vulnerable crops.”
 

Goehring Meets with Perdue, Wheeler

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In a meeting with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring outlined concern with the surveys conducted by the National Agricultural Statistics Service. “I filled mine out recently and I noticed that when I got to the area under corn, I still had almost 1,000 acres standing and there was no box for me to record unharvested acres. It was a box that had me identify what I intend to harvest and my potential production; that is assuming a lot when we don’t know what the losses could be.” Read more.

North Dakota Exploring Options to Assist Farmers

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The North Dakota Department of Agriculture is encouraging farmers to report crop losses or any other damage associated with the wet fall and recent blizzard to county-based NDSU Extension agents. That information will be shared to help the state prepare a Secretarial disaster declaration. A Presidential disaster declaration will also likely be sought. Once submitted, it will take several weeks for disaster declaration these approvals.
 
Additionally, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring will be in Fargo, Grand Forks, Jamestown and Fessenden on Monday, October 21. The team will visit these flood-affected areas to look at damage and losses for federal disaster requests, as well as visit with farmers, ranchers and officials. Get the full schedule.

North Dakota Explores Options to Assist Ag Sector

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In a joint statement, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said they are exploring every avenue to assist farmers and ranchers due to the early snowstorm and extremely wet conditions. A Secretarial Disaster Declaration is a possibility. Goehring has voiced concern to USDA about quality discounts on grain. Burgum and Goehring also encouraged farmers to seek help if they’re overwhelmed by farm stress. Read more.

Goehring Seeks Changes in NASS Reporting

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North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring has broad support for a resolution that he has introduced to the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. “It is requesting and urging the National Agricultural Statistics Service to use RMA data to help identify the gaps that exist in their reporting.” Goehring spoke at an Ihry Insurance meeting Wednesday night in Hillsboro, ND.

The agriculture commissioner says there is a lot of frustration with NASS. “There needs to be a better job emphasizing what type of report is being issued because the trade reacts and sends the market into a tailspin. It is doing more harm to our farmers psychologically and on their balance sheet.”