Pierre, SD, USA / DRGNews
Apr 29, 2021 | 1:56 PM
South Dakota Senator John Thune– a longtime member of the Senate Agriculture Committee– and committee chairwoman Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow have reintroduced the Cover Crop Flexibility Act.
The legislation would remove the prohibition on harvesting or grazing cover crops on prevented plant acres prior to November 1 and allow this flexibility outside of the primary nesting season.
This legislation is an offshoot of Thune and Stabenow’s 2019 effort that led the US Department of Agriculture to make an administrative change that allowed for penalty-free haying and grazing, which significantly benefited states like South Dakota and Michigan. In 2020, Thune and Stabenow again requested that USDA move up the November 1 date to September 1, but the department only provided flexibility in certain counties in South Dakota and North Dakota. This bill would provide a permanent solution to this issue and create greater certainty for US producers.