Drought Resources Available

As the drought continues to affect farmers and ranchers across the country and now well into South Dakota there are various issues that will need to be addressed depending on each individual farm.

A great local resource is the South Dakota State University Extension. On their website: http://igrow.org/agronomy/drought/ you will find pertinent information in their resource library including: crop conditions, an updated drought monitor along with feed and forage options.

On a national level, the United States Department of Agriculture has an excellent site: http://usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=DISASTER_ASSISTANCE providing farmers and ranchers with disaster declaration maps, drought specific news and updates, crop insurance information, livestock losses and future farm planning materials.

Dealing with crop insurance is something on the mind of a majority of farmers this year. To answer some possible questions, Iowa State University’s Steven Johnson has a new column: 11 Key Crop Insurance Questions and Answers. In this column, Johnson goes beyond the basics to inform farmers on how to handle insured crops affected by disaster.

Even with crop insurance, the drought still has a number of long lasting, negative effects on the entire ag community, some far worse than others. But American agriculture is resilient and will continue to thrive well into the future using technology and innovation to continue producing affordable and abundant supplies of food, feed, fuel and fiber for our growing population.