CATTLE STRANDED IN DAKOTAS'

Release No. 0010.97

                                   Tom Amontree  (202) 720-4623
                                   Marlyn Aycock (202) 720-5237

CATTLE STRANDED IN DAKOTAS' SNOW GET USDA EMERGENCY DISASTER AID

     WASHINGTON, Jan. 16, 1997--The Clinton Administration today announced
it was activating a feed grain donation program to help get feed to 100,000
head of livestock stranded by blizzards in the Northern Plains, with
additional assistance on the way for another 1 million head at risk of
starving in the snow.    
     
     "The problems are that ranchers can't get feed to cattle isolated on
the range and in some places, feed simply isn't available," said Agriculture
Secretary Glickman.  "We are immediately activating an emergency feed grain
donation program to help alleviate these problems."
     
     Under the Disaster Relief Assistance Program (DRAP), USDA will make
available feed grains from its disaster reserve or use funds from the sale
of grain in the reserve to help buy livestock feed to be shipped into
stricken areas or to give the funds to producers to buy feed locally when it
is available. Funds can also be used for transporting grain and removing
snow to feed cattle.  The estimated cost of feeding all 100,000 animals for
15 days is about $1.4 million.

        Due to the severity of the problem, USDA will bear the entire cost
of meeting this short-term emergency.  For longer range assistance,
producers will have to provide 70 percent of the cost of feed acquired under
the disaster reserve assistance program.
      
     South Dakota is the biggest livestock-producing state in the storm
belt, with about 80,000 head at immediate risk because producers cannot get
to the animals or get to their feed supplies.  In North Dakota, about 20,000
animals are in the same difficulty.     
     In North Dakota, producers will be exhausting available supplies of
hay for their 1,900,000 head of cattle soon.  Cattle stranded away from feed
sources are expected to be a problem for the next several months.  In South
Dakota, about one-fourth of the State's 4 million head of cattle will be
without feed unless supplies can be shipped in from out of state. 

     Over the longer run, many producers will run out of feed, primarily
hay, because the unusually severe winter has isolated cattle from their
normal grazing and required more feed to be provided than normal. 

     USDA has conducted a survey of warehouses in the affected region and
found almost 600,000 bushels of corn, barley and wheat in the three states
that could be made available immediately for use under this program.

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