(Washington, D.C.) - Montana's U.S. Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester announced today emergency haying and grazing resources for farmers and ranchers in eight Montana counties facing drought and wildfires.

"Montana farmers and ranchers are resilient and these resources will give them a leg up in the battle against drought and wildfire," said Baucus. "Making sure these federal resources are available to Montanans quickly and efficiently is just good common sense because agriculture is the heart of our economy."

"These emergency resources will help Montana's farmers and ranchers deal with devastating drought and fires. Quickly getting them the assistance they need will keep our world-class agriculture industry working and let our producers keep doing what they do best: putting food on our kitchen tables," Tester said.

In response to pressure from Baucus and Tester the Agriculture Department is also unleashing emergency funding and technical assistance to rehabilitate ranchland in Rosebud and Powder River Counties through the USDA's Emergency Conservation Program. The program will also help farmers and ranchers rebuild fences destroyed by wildfires.

On Monday, Baucus and Tester pressed the Agriculture Department to speed up all available federal resources for Montana agriculture producers struggling with drought disaster conditionsBaucus and Tester are going to bat to make sure additional Montana counties requesting help gain access to these vital resources.

At this time, the following counties have been approved for emergency grazing and/or haying effective 7/16:

• Beaverhead (Emergency Grazing)
• Big Horn (Emergency Grazing)
• Broadwater (Emergency Grazing & Haying)
• Custer (Emergency Grazing & Haying)
• Jefferson (Emergency Grazing)
• Madison (Emergency Grazing)
• Rosebud (Emergency Grazing)
• Yellowstone (Emergency Grazing & Haying)