Department of Transportation has waived the $32 fee
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
The Missouri Department of Transportation is making hauling and receiving hay easier for state farmers.
The department announced it is waiving the $32 fee needed to purchase a temporary overwidth hauling permit. The fee will be waived through Oct. 31.
With the permit, transporters can carry hay that’s up to 12-feet and 4-inches in width. The hay must still meet original length, weight and height requirements. The permit also allows haulers to move hay at night provided they use proper reflectors, flags and lights.
The news of the streamlined hay transportation is good news for producers as they try to find animal feed during drought conditions.
The USDA has designated 25 Missouri counties as primary natural disaster areas. Producers in those areas are eligible to apply for emergency loans.
“We’re in a pretty serious D3 drought right now,” Adam Kuebler, a member of the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association’s executive committee, told Farms.com. “We had freezing weather through April and then the temperatures rose to about 90 degrees (F) in May.
“That cool-season grass never grew back, so we’re looking at about a 60 per cent hay yield compared to last year. The easier access to hay could go a long way to helping farmers through these dry times.”
Some producers have compared this year’s drought to that of 2012, Kuebler said.
Nearly 93 per cent of the state was in an extreme drought that year, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
The Missouri Department of Agriculture thanked the Department of Transportation’s support for the ag community.
“Missouri’s agriculture community thrives when neighbors and rural communities rely on one another, and that is exactly the support this waiver will encourage,” Chris Chinn, state agriculture director, said in an Aug. 6 statement.