Sen. John Thune, a native of western South Dakota, says he remembers the drought that hit the state in the mid-1970s.
Thune, who grew up in Murdo, on Friday said that if dry conditions don't soon improve, South Dakotans may see a repeat of the epic droughts that still are fresh on the minds of many in the state.
Thune, R-S.D., and South Dakota's two other congressional delegates on Friday announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture has decided to make Conservation Reserve Program acres in 20 South Dakota counties eligible for emergency haying and grazing in the midst of ongoing drought in the state. Thune said he was informed of the decision Friday morning by USDA Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner.
The counties include Beadle, Campbell, Corson, Dewey, Edmunds, Faulk, Hand, Hughes, Hyde, Jerauld, Jones, Lyman, McPherson, Perking, Potter, Sanborn, Stanley, Sully, Walworth and Ziebach.
"If we don't see some improvement, if we don't get some moisture, this could be very much like going back decades and generations. If you talk to some of the guys who have been around a long time, they'll tell you that," he said. "I have heard people in Mobridge say that it's the worst since 1976. I remember 1976 growing up in Murdo -- it was a very bad year. Some old-timers are starting to suggest that it's perhaps as bad as it was way back in the '30s."
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For the full version of this story, see Saturday's print edition.
