The FEED Act introduced, by Sens. John Hoeven (R-North Dakota) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), brings attention to an issue that local agriculture has struggled with in recent years.
Under this proposal, a waiver can be issued by the Secretary of Agriculture to allow haying, grazing or chopping of a cover crop on prevented plant acres before Nov. 1 in the event of a feed shortage.
Currently, across the nation, farmers are not allowed to harvest cover crops until November. Hoeven says a one-size-fits-all approach simply does not work due to varying climates.
He also says, “November 1 is a lot different up in our part of the country, it’s a lot colder so essentially what this law allows is that flexibility so the Secretary [of Agriculture] can move that date up.”
The FEED Act is endorsed by various organizations, including the North Dakota Corn Growers Association and the North Dakota Farmers Union.
