’17 drought reflects need for safety net

Crop insurance adjusters will be among the busiest workers in Montana this year; that’s not good news for anybody.As Tom Lutey reported in Sunday’s Billings Gazette, the nation’s worst drought is in northeastern Montana and adjoining areas of North Dakota. The states’ winter durum wheat harvest is expected to be 45 percent less than last year. More than 60 percent of Montana’s spring wheat is rated poor to very poor, as is 51 percent of the lentil crop. The losses will add up to more than $100 million.Tough as the drought of 2017 is on crops, it may be worse for ranchers.“Our pasture is just bare ground, there’s not a blade of green on it, hasn’t been for some time,” a Glasgow area cattle producer told Lutey. They talked the day the rancher took his prized 2,300-pound bull to auction because he was too big to feed. Hay is scarce and prices are sky high.This disastrous year calls attention to why U.S. farmers need a safety net. Crop insurance and low-interest loans won’t come close to covering the losses, but USDA programs should help ag producers survive to plant next year.Next year should be on the minds of Montana’s congressional delegation, too. The four-year Farm Bill enacted in 2014 is up for renewal in 2018. There must be a high priority on getting majority agreement — and the president’s signature — on a new four-year Farm Bill by September of next year, before the present law expires.