Harry Cope crumbles a bone-dry dirt clod in a field where corn usually grows. Instead, this field on his family’s Century Farm at Truxton is planted with turnips, oats, rye, crimson clover and a mix as a control crop to protect fields that will be bare longer than usual this year. National Resources Conservation Service Chief Dave White visited the Cope farm with Warren and Montgomery County farmers last week to learn about the struggles that grain and livestock producers in drought-stricken Missouri are facing. Cope’s plowed fields border a small fenced area of barren, parched cornstalks left for the Federal Crop Insurance agents to inspect. It’s the worst he’s seen it. At 50, he’s farmed all of his life on land that his father and grandfather farmed before him. The land has provided for Cope and his brothers, their children and their livestock. Now they’re scrambling for water and pasture to feed about 85 cows and 400 ewes. Area farmers told White that they’ve been grazing cattle in cornfields that are producing historic low yields. Some farmers reported that they are already feeding hay to their cattle because there is no green pasture ground. They don’t know what they will do when the hay is gone, but there is none for sale. Much of the area corn crop has already been chopped for sileage and some farmers said they are considering baling soybean crops which have also suffered from lack of rain and triple digit temperatures. Several of the farmers reported shelling corn already, months ahead of schedule, and are reporting dismal yields in the 50-bushel per acre range,  less than one-third of usual amounts. Cope told White that livestock producers are trying to adapt by moving sheep to fields typically grazed by cows, but this has presented fencing issues and concerns about residual chemicals. “We can’t make it rain,” White said, but “We’re trying to put together a drought package.” He said federal and stage agencies are working together and many restrictions have been lifted or loosened in an effort to help farmers.  “We’re banking the future of the country on it.” In addition to older farmers who have weathered previous droughts and high interest rates, young farmers are facing a devastating year immediately.  Alan Cope purchased 114 acres three years ago and rents another 150 acres. A graduate of Linn Tech, he and his father, Roy, have an excavating business to supplement their farm income.  Ed Cope, a 2010 Mizzou grad, returned to the family farm where he works with his dad, Bill.  “I picked a great year to start,” he lamented. Luke Stevens, a 2011 Mizzou ag systems management graduate of Montgomery City, echoed those sentiments. He farms with his father, Mark, and has ground of his own. Local NRCS officials reminded those attending that there will be approximately 12 workshops throughout the state to help farmers learn about new programs. One of those programs will be held in Warren County. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service  announced the availability of up to $5 million in grants to evaluate and demonstrate agricultural practices that help farmers and ranchers adapt to drought on Aug. 15. NRCS is taking applications for Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) to help producers build resiliency into their production systems so they can adapt to climatic extremes, such as the historic drought impacting the nation. NRCS is offering the grants to partnering entities to evaluate innovative, field-based conservation technologies and approaches. These technologies and/or approaches should lead to improvements such as enhancing the water-holding capacity in soils and installing drought-tolerant grazing systems, which will help farms and ranches become more resilient to drought. “Severe drought conditions across the United States have greatly impacted the livelihood of our farmers and ranchers,” said NRCS Chief Dave White. “Conservation Innovation Grants allow us to generate and deploy as soon as possible cutting-edge ideas that help farmers and ranchers run sustainable and profitable operations.” Grant applications are due Oct. 15, 2012. Additionally Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a series of special provisions with the federal crop insurance program to allow haying or grazing of cover crops without impacting the insurability of planted 2013 spring crops, a move that can help provide much needed forage and feed this fall for livestock producers.  In a separate step, Vilsack will modify emergency loans, allowing loans to be made earlier in the season as livestock producers attempt to offset increased feed costs and those who have liquidated herds. The U.S. Drought Monitor indicates that 63 percent of the nation’s hay acreage is in areas experiencing drought, while approximately 71 percent of the nation’s cattle acreage is in areas experiencing drought. Approximately 85 percent of the U.S. corn crop is in areas affected by drought and 83 percent of U.S. soybeans are in drought-stricken areas. Fifty-one percent of the nation’s corn crop is being reported as poor while 37 percent of soybeans are considered poor to very poor. Truxton Farmer Featured On  NBC News A rural Truxton farmer was interviewed by NBC reporter Thanh Truong last week. That interview can be viewed online at http://dailynightly.nbenews.com/_news/2012/08/14. In the interview, Truong said he expects to lose 40 percent of his crops this year. Truong is one of 3,700 Missouri farmers and livestock producers who have been approved for emergency well drilling under an executive order signed by Gov. Jay Nixon last month. The state will pay for up to 90 percent of the cost to dig new or deeper wells for farmers impacted by the drought. Area cattle producers Michele Chrisopherson and Peggy Ebbesmeyer  also were interviewed for the show. Locally, Sarah E. Szachnieski, resource conservationist with the Warren County NRCS office, said the office  has funded 47 applications for Warren County and 31 applications for Montgomery County for help with wells, water lines or spring development.