Missouri Farmers Get Drought Assistance

Friday, September 15, 2023

The Missouri Soil and Water Conservation Districts are offering drought assistance to farmers in counties that have reached D2 or higher drought status. The assistance includes variances to existing practices, such as pond cleanout, grazing practices, cover crop practices, livestock exclusion requirements, and reseeding stands.

To be eligible for the assistance, landowners must contact their local Soil and Water Conservation District office.

Here is a summary of the drought assistance practices that are available:

• Pond cleanout: This practice is available to landowners with ponds that were constructed with state cost share. The maximum cost share for the cleanout part of the practice is $6,000.

• Grazing practices: Landowners can defer the grazing school requirement for 12 months after contract payment for the Water Development (DSP 3.1) and Water Distribution (DSP 3.2) Grazing System practices. The contracts will be for only one watering tank and pipeline and water source development. The rest of the system can be designed and installed after the landowner has completed an approved grazing school.

• Cover crop practices: Landowners can harvest cover crops for livestock feed at termination to provide additional forages and waive the two-production crop rotation requirement for the next planted production crop.

• Livestock exclusion requirements: Landowners can immediately graze in any of the livestock exclusion areas, such as the DFR-5 Woodland Protection Through Livestock Exclusion, DWC-1 Water l Impoundment Reservoir, N386 Field Border, N393 Filter Strip, N472 Livestock Exclusion, and WQ10Stream Protection practices.

• Reseeding stands: Landowners can receive assistance to reseed a practice anytime during the maintenance life of the practice in which the grass stand failed because of the drought of 2022 or 2023.

Districts may handle implementation of these practices differently, so landowners should contact their local office for more specifics.