WI farmers allowed to harvest on state land due to drought

JANESVILLE -- Despite a bit of recent rainfall, farmers remain concerned over this summer's drought. A severe drought declaration has been issued for southeastern Wisconsin, and Gov. Scott Walker has requested federal disaster declarations for 23 Wisconsin counties. Monday, July 23rd, farmers and experts gathered to discuss what the future holds.

One speaker at Monday's meeting said the hot, dry weather has a lot of effects on the marketplace, and said he was there to help farmers work through issues. Those issues include things like managing the recent price movements, how to handle contracts they're already committed to, and buying feed for their animals.

Experts also reminded farmers to take some pests seriously.

"We still have a good yield potential out there and there are some pests that we don't normally see, such as the spider-mites that are out there that can severely impact a soybean field. Growers should be out there scouting. They should take this pest seriously. Iit is one of the pests that can truly take a soybean field to zero yield," Soybean and small grain specialist Shawn Conley said.

Conley says there is still a considerable amount of revenue to protect in the field. He says growers should be paying attention to the spider-mite and spraying for it to save whatever crop yield they do have.

Conley says the dry conditions are what has allowed the spider-mite population to explode, without the normal checks on its growth.

Also on Monday, Gov. Scott Walker announced farmers will be allowed to harvest hay and graze cattle on about 11,500 acres of state-owned land.

The special harvest ends Aug. 10 for prairie grasses and Aug. 30 for cool season grasses. Only one cutting of hay will be allowed.

Farmers will have to sign an agreement saying the hay being taken from state property will be used for livestock and not sold.

More information is available at 1-888-936-7463 or on the Department of Natural Resources website at dnr.wi.gov.

Additional drought-related information is on a special website www.ready.wi.gov.

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