Utah Official to Seek Help for Ranchers and Farmers

By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News

ST. GEORGE — Utah’s commissioner of agriculture vowed on Thursday to help several dozen ranchers and farmers after a massive wildfire swept through miles of rangeland in Millard County, killing cattle and scorching the ground.

“We have about 40 ranchers affected in the Milford Flat area,” Commissioner Leonard Blackham said in an interview with the Deseret Morning News. “They know they take the risk, but we will do what we can. We’ll get them back in business again.”

Blackham was in St. George attending the semiannual Utah Farm Bureau convention, along with other elected officials, ranchers, farmers and representatives from various state and federal agencies that work with the state’s agricultural businesses.

Among the topics addressed during Thursday’s session was a panel discussion on the future of agriculture and politics in Utah, growth population models and climate change. The convention continues today, with sessions that include discussions on water rights, nuisance claims and immigration.

Sen. Dennis Stowell, R-Parowan, who is chairman of the Senate Natural Resources Appropriation Committee, said a supplemental appropriation of $8 million was approved this year to help pay for damage caused by wildfires last year.

“That’ll be an issue in the future, too,” he promised the group at the convention. “We also appropriated $1 million to reseed burned out areas.”

However, none of that money will go toward ranchers and farmers whose cattle herds and rangelands are in the path of this week’s wildfires, he noted.

“We already had cattle ranchers hauling cattle into their winter range, but now that’s all gone,” Stowell said. “What will they do this winter? There’s nothing left and not a lot of summer feed left, either. Hay is expensive. It’ll break some of our ranchers. We need a disaster declaration.”

Blackham said a federal disaster declaration is already being sought. An assessment of the damage caused by wildfires burning throughout the state is now under way by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency, Blackham said.

“That appraisal should be in shortly, and then we’ll send a communication request to Governor Huntsman to seek a disaster declaration from the secretary of agriculture,” he added.

If a disaster declaration is approved, which Blackham fully expects to occur, it would activate several USDA programs that could help ranchers and farmers recover from their losses.

Some of those programs include low-interest loans and financial assistance to help rebuild burned fencing and haul water in for thirsty cattle herds.

“There’s also some reimbursement for animals killed by the fire, but we need the ranchers and farmers to go now into their local Farm Service Agency office and report the structures lost and condition of their herds and land,” Blackham said. “We want to identify all the resources available and reach out as effectively as possible to mitigate the impact.”

Utah’s ranchers and farmers already have fought a long, tough battle with the state’s prolonged drought.

“The consequences of the drought are just now beginning to come into play around the state,” said Blackham. “A lot of people are selling their stock because they don’t have feed. Most of these farmers are going to have to liquidate their herd, and most will have to restock it later. Even with reseeding, it’s going to take a couple of years to get that landscaping in shape so it can handle grazing again.”

Reseeding the blackened rangeland is a top priority, he added.

“That (burned-out) area is so large, we’ll have dust storms that blow right into Utah Valley and Salt Lake County,” Blackham said. “Reseeding and restoring those area needs to be done as soon as possible, or we’re going to have a lot of dust and ash in the air.”

E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com

(c) 2007 Deseret News (Salt Lake City). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.