Oklahoma Farmers And Ranchers Will Soon See Additional Drought Relief Money From The State

By Xcaret Nuñez

Oklahoma’s current drought is the worst the state has experienced in at least 10 years, and the dry, hot weather conditions are especially hitting farmers and ranchers hard.

The bone-dry weather continues to make it difficult to grow hay, and it hasn’t helped pastures grow for cattle to graze on. A lack of rain and rising feed costs have also pushed some livestock producers to make some tough decisions, like feeding winter hay supply early.

“We normally aren’t even thinking about feeding hay until at least another 45 days,” said livestock producer Josh Emerson. “And we’re already feeding a little bit of hay.”

To help offset the detrimental costs of drought, Stitt signed a bill on Oct. 4 to send $20 million to the Emergency Drought Relief Fund, which was established during the 2022 regular legislative session. The $20 million is in addition to the $3 million in relief funds the Emergency Drought Commission allocated across the state’s 77 counties earlier this week.