Stabenow: Continuing drought shows need for new farm bill
February 14, 2013 | 05:29 PM
As federal officials said today that the drought is continuing, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said the situation shows the importance of passing a farm bill this year.
At a hearing this morning, Stabenow said the 2012 drought affected the most square miles since the Dust Bowl and “has taken a devastating toll on American agriculture, underscoring the need to pass critical disaster assistance programs and a new five-year farm bill.”
Stabenow noted that crop insurance had saved many crop farmers, but that livestock and fruit producers did not have that advantage. She also pointed out that the extension of the 2008 farm bill means that crop farmers will continue to get direct payments as well as crop insurance, while livestock and fruit producers did not get any assistance.
“We learned last week that our cattle herd inventories are the lowest in over six decades, which has had broad ranging impacts including job losses in rural communities as processing facilities and feedlots idle,” Stabenow said.
“Row crop producers that participate in the crop insurance program will not only get insurance payments, but some will continue to receive direct payment subsidies as well. Meanwhile, livestock producers and specialty crop growers who suffered substantial losses didn’t get any help.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said that it is important to pass a new farm bill to get aid to livestock producers and continue conservation programs.
Klobuchar also asked USDA Chief Economist Joe Glauber how the drought had affected exports. Glauber replied that the drought had had “a certain counterintuitive effect” on exports because the value rose to the highest level, but that the volume of corn exports was down to the lowest level since 1971.
In response to a question from Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Glauber also noted that improved drought-resistant seeds had help alleviate much of the drought’s effects.
Roger Pulwarty, director of the National Integrated Drought Information System of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, testifed that conditions are set for “a very similar level of drought in the Midwest and West” this year.
Pulwarty aded that droughts are “not predictable 100 percent,” but that the third back-to-back dry year in the Colorado Basin would put agriculture and water systems in that area under stress.
At a hearing this morning, Stabenow said the 2012 drought affected the most square miles since the Dust Bowl and “has taken a devastating toll on American agriculture, underscoring the need to pass critical disaster assistance programs and a new five-year farm bill.”
Stabenow noted that crop insurance had saved many crop farmers, but that livestock and fruit producers did not have that advantage. She also pointed out that the extension of the 2008 farm bill means that crop farmers will continue to get direct payments as well as crop insurance, while livestock and fruit producers did not get any assistance.
“We learned last week that our cattle herd inventories are the lowest in over six decades, which has had broad ranging impacts including job losses in rural communities as processing facilities and feedlots idle,” Stabenow said.
“Row crop producers that participate in the crop insurance program will not only get insurance payments, but some will continue to receive direct payment subsidies as well. Meanwhile, livestock producers and specialty crop growers who suffered substantial losses didn’t get any help.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said that it is important to pass a new farm bill to get aid to livestock producers and continue conservation programs.
Klobuchar also asked USDA Chief Economist Joe Glauber how the drought had affected exports. Glauber replied that the drought had had “a certain counterintuitive effect” on exports because the value rose to the highest level, but that the volume of corn exports was down to the lowest level since 1971.
In response to a question from Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Glauber also noted that improved drought-resistant seeds had help alleviate much of the drought’s effects.
Roger Pulwarty, director of the National Integrated Drought Information System of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, testifed that conditions are set for “a very similar level of drought in the Midwest and West” this year.
Pulwarty aded that droughts are “not predictable 100 percent,” but that the third back-to-back dry year in the Colorado Basin would put agriculture and water systems in that area under stress.
