Seven members of Missouri’s congressional delegation ask US Ag Secretary to open lands for emergency haying

Seven members of Missouri’s congressional delegation, all Republicans, want the Biden Administration to open up more land for haying. 

They sent a letter to U-S Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urging the USDA specifically to open lands under the Conservation Reserve Program to hay harvesting, in order to provide more food for livestock during the ongoing drought. 

In the letter they state that they have “grave concerns” about the quality of forage available for haying and that it could “substantially decline in the coming weeks.” 

The letter was signed by US senators Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt, and by Missouri congressmen Blaine Luetkemeyer, Mark Alford, Sam Graves, Eric Burlison, and Jason Smith.