Robert Pore's Ag Blog

USDA Sec. Mike Johanns’ announcement Tuesday of disaster assistance will help drought-impacted Nebraska producers, but falls short of what is needed, said Rep. Tom Osborne, R-Neb.

While in South Dakota Tuesday, Johanns announced $780 million in assistance to help farmers and ranchers manage drought- and weather-related production challenges.

The funding includes a new $50 million program for livestock producers impacted by drought, focusing nearly $30 million in unused conservation funds on drought, and accelerating the delivery of an estimated $700 million in counter-cyclical payments.

“While some parts of the country are experiencing very good crop conditions, drought is taking a toll on farming and ranching operations in other areas of the United States this year,” said Johanns.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that $780 million in crop and livestock disaster assistance will be made available to producers affected by severe drought.

“I am pleased that Secretary Johanns is providing assistance to producers who have been struggling with the impact of this prolonged drought,” Osborne said.

He is encouraging Nebraskans who have been affected by the drought to contact their local Farm Service Agency office to determine their eligibility for these funds.

But Osborne is concerned that the funding will not be sufficient to address the wiespread impact that the drought has had in Nebraska and throughout the Great Plains.

Most of Osborne’s 3rd Congressional District has received disaster declarations because of drought conditions.

“Throughout the summer, I have been stressing the need for assistance to my fellow members of the House, and I will continue to work in Congress to provide disaster assistance for all producers,” Osborne said.

Earlier this month, an economist for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Brad Lubben, estimated Nebraska agricultural loss due to drought this year at $342 million.

Lubben said crop loss in Nebraska is gauged at more than $98 million, with nearly $70 million of that attributed to a bad winter wheat crop.

The Nebraska Agricultural Statistics Service earlier reported that this year’s wheat crop in Nebraska was 21 percent below last year’s harvest.

But livestock producers appear to be taking the biggest hit this year, with an estimated $193 million lost due to parched pastures, Lubben said.

In its latest weekly crop and weather report, the Nebraska Agricultural Statistics Service rated pasture and rangeland conditions in Nebraska at 66 percent poor or very poor, 26 percent fair and 8 percent good.

Both Sens. Ben Nelson and Chuck Hagel support a $4 billion drought assistance package that the Senate passed as part of the Senate’s Agricultural Appropriations funding bill.

Hagel said Tuesday Johanns’ announcement was a good start, but he will continue to push for more disaster assistance.

Hagel is urging the chairman of the appropriations committee, Sen. Thad Cochran, and the majority and minority leaders to consider the ag approps bill before the end of September.

Nelson also welcomed the news, but believes Johanns’ announcement falls short of what’s needed to help drought-stricken farmers.

“This is welcome assistance for our farmers and ranchers coping with the consequences of drought, but unfortunately, farmers need comprehensive drought relief along the lines of what I am trying to get passed in the Senate,” he said.

National Farmers Union President Tom Buis said the USDA’s response is not strong enough.

“More than 80 percent of counties nationwide were declared federal disaster areas in 2005,” Buis said. “This year we've already seen more than 50 percent of counties declared disaster areas, as drought conditions continue to get worse.”

According to Dale Schuler, president of the National Association of Wheat Growers, the disaster relief package announced by Johanns will provide no relief to wheat growers because it relies on a farm bill program that hasn’t provided for them since its inception.

“Wheat growers across the country are facing the worst droughts in decades,” he said. “A much broader, more comprehensive package is needed — now.”

Johanns said $700 million of the $780 million for disaster relief will go to producers in the form of advanced counter-cyclical payments.

But Schuler said the problem is that counter-cyclical payments don’t work during times of drought because lack of production drives prices up.

“Wheat growers have received virtually no assistance from the counter-cyclical program, or the loan program for that matter, since 2002,” he said. “Basing desperately needed disaster assistance on the counter-cyclical program will provide uneven relief, at best.”

As part of the assistance package, Johanns said the new $50 million program for livestock producers, called the Livestock Assistance Grant Program, will provide $50 million from Section 32 to states in block grant form.

States will distribute funds to livestock producers in counties that were designated as D3 or D4 on the Drought Monitor anytime between March 7 and Aug. 31.
In Nebraska, 39 counties are designated D3 or D4, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln.

Johanns said 64 percent of the nation’s beef cows and breeding stock are in drought-stricken areas where many ranchers are being forced to cull their herds.
The grants are designed to help livestock producers restore their purchasing power.
Rancher-members of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) say funding announced by USDA to aid farmers and ranchers is a good start toward providing much-needed disaster and drought relief.

“For those struggling to cope with drought conditions, today’s announcement is a good sign that our nation’s policymakers are sensitive to the challenges being faced by our ag producers,” said Jason Jordan, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association manager of legislative affairs.

Drought assistance package and existing USDA disaster assistance information is available at www.usda.gov.