News

In response to Executive Order 23-05, signed by Governor Parsons,  the Soil and Water Districts Commission approved policies and reinstated the DWC-02 Water Impoundment Reservoir Cleanout Practice. Variances to the policies will be effective until the executive order expires December 1, 2023, unless terminated or extended by subsequent order. The variances approved apply to districts that reach a minimum ofD2 (Severe Drought) status and higher. Once any portion of a county has reached the D2 status, the variances are available throughout the county. The county will remain eligible for the variances until the executive order expires, even if the level of drought is reduced below D2 The variances approved by the commission are: DWC-02 Water impoundment Reservoir Cleanout Practice • Reinstate the pond cleanout program that was created during the 2018 drought. The sediment in the pond must be completely removed. A. flat rate of$1,500 per half acre. (Up to 2 acres) will be paid. The maximum cost-share provided will be $6,000 regardless of the size of the pond. A 1O-year maintenance commitment for the pond will be reinstated from the date of payment. This cleanout program is available only for state cost-share ponds currently under maintenance and those out of maintenance. Variance to Grazing Practices - Water Development and Distributions, and Grazing School.  - Defer the Grazing School Requirement for 12 months after contract payment for the Water Development (DSP-3.1) and Water Distribution (DSP-3.2) Grazing System practices. The Water Development contracts will consist only of pipeline, the water source, and one watering tank.  The rest of the system can be designed and installed after the landowner has completed an approved grazing school.  It is important that producers understand managed grazing prior to designing their systems.  Variance to Cover Crop Practice-Lifetime Maximum and Haying - Grant a variance to the N3400 Cover Crop practice allowing the cover crops to be harvested for livestock feed at termination to provide additional forages and waive the two production crop rotation requirement for the next planted production crop.  A temporary removal of the N340 Cover Crop Practice maximum for the operators planning to harvest the forage for feed which would allow assistance to anyone that has reached the $20,000.00 maximum.  Landowners over the $20,000.00 maximum will receive $30.00 per acre for any additional acres enrolled.  Other requirements in the policy still apply. Variance to Livestock Exclusion Requirements Grant a variance allowing immediate grazing in any of the livestock exclusion areas for the DFR-5 Woodland Protection Through Livestock Exclusion, DWC-1 Water impoundment Reservoir, N386 Field Border, N393 Filter Strip, N472 Livestock Exclusion, and WQ10 Stream Protection practices.  Provided the area is established in forage that can withstand grazing. This only cover the basic information for these variances.  You must contact the district if you are interested in applying for these variances before taking any steps to do this, as there are more details on these variances the district will need to discuss with you. You can check the U.S. Drought Monitor map of Missouri at www.dnr.mo.gov/drought. Call our office at 417-646-8108 ext. 3 to discuss these drought variances.