Farmers affected by this spring’s severe rains and flooding will now be able to file for prevented planting claims while still providing feed for their livestock, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.

On Thursday, the USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) announced it was adjusting the 2019 final haying and grazing date for prevented planting acres from Nov. 1 to Sep. 1. The change will allow farmers to use cover crops for grazing, hay and silage earlier in the fall, while still keeping their eligibility for a prevented planting indemnity. The change will be for this year only.

“We recognize farmers were greatly impacted by some of the unprecedented flooding and excessive rain this spring, and we made this one-year adjustment to help farmers with the tough decisions they are facing this year,” said Bill Northey, Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation. “This change will make good stewardship of the land easier to accomplish while also providing an opportunity to ensure quality forage is available for livestock this fall.”

The RMA said it has also decided that in addition to haying or grazing on prevent plant acres, farmers are allowed to cut cover crops for silage, haylage or baleage after Sept. 1.

“These adjustments have been made for 2019 only,” RMA Administrator Martin Barbre said. “RMA will evaluate the prudence of a permanent adjustment moving forward.”

Under the Federal Crop Insurance Program, farmers who are unable to plant a crop due to weather conditions can receive an indemnity. However, in order to be eligible for the indemnity, farmers weren’t allowed to grow a cash crop on the prevented planting acres, and cover crops weren’t allowed to be harvested until after Nov. 1.

The November harvest date wasn’t going to be helpful for many farmers this year, said Jim Nichols, a Lake Benton farmer and former Minnesota agriculture commissioner. Livestock farmers are already facing a feed shortage due to the weather delaying planting, he said. On top of that, having to wait until November could keep farmers from being able to use cover crops to feed their animals.

“By Nov. 1, we could have snow on the ground,” Nichols said.

Moving the grazing and harvest date up two months was “really great news” for livestock farmers, he said. “We really wanted this, and we’ve been working on this a while.”

The adjusted haying and grazing date drew praise from U.S. Sen. Tina Smith on Thursday.

“Last week, I spoke with Minnesotan farm leaders and this issue dominated the conversation,” Smith said in a news release. “The farming economy is in a significant crisis, and I knew action needed to be taken to stop yet another roadblock for our farmers and ranchers.

“I’m extremely pleased to see the USDA make these changes. The farming community needed a win and these new harvesting rules provide a ray of hope during a very tough period.”

The announcement of the new haying and grazing date comes a week after the introduction of a bipartisan bill in Congress seeking the same thing. U.S. Representatives Angie Craig (D-Minnesota) and Dusty Johnson (R-South Dakota) introduced the Feed Emergency Enhancement During Disasters Act, which would give the USDA an emergency waiver authority allowing farmers to graze, hay or chop a cover crop before Nov. 1 in the event of a feed shortage caused by excessive moisture or drought. With the waiver, farmers would not have to take a further discount on their crop insurance.

“In the midst of a delayed planting season, falling commodity prices and limited market access, Congress has a responsibility to provide farmers and ranchers the flexibility they need to do their jobs successfully. This bill takes a critical step toward giving the Secretary (of Agriculture) explicit authority to waive the November 1 harvest date for cover crops on prevent plant ground,” Craig said last week.

“While my colleagues and I will continue to work with the USDA to find administrative ways to address this issue, Congress must take action on this long-standing concern with a long-term solution, and pursue all possible avenues of relief.”