Obama to expedite California disaster assistance plus aid for other drought-stricken areas
February 14, 2014 | 06:08 AM
On a trip to California today to inspect the effects of the severe drought there, President Barack Obama will announce that he has directed the Agriculture Department to implement the livestock disaster programs in the farm bill within 60 days, rather than the usual six to eight months, and that the assistance will help ranchers in the Dakotas and other places that experienced winter weather problems this year.
The livestock disaster programs are expected to provide $100 million in assistance to California ranchers and more than $1 billion nationwide, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters late Thursday in an announcement that was embargoed until 6 a.m. today.
Vilsack will accompany Obama to California. The president is scheduled to arrive in Fresno at 2:30 p.m. PST and also is to be joined by California Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, the state’s senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, both Democrats, Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Michael Connor.
Obama will “visit a farm, participate in a roundtable discussion with farmers and other local stakeholders affected by the drought, and witness firsthand some of the impacts on the region’s agriculture,” the White House said in a news advisory.
During the call, Vilsack noted that the new farm bill reauthorizes disaster programs have not been operational since 2011.
According to a White House fact sheet (see link below), beginning in April producers will be able to sign up for the livestock disaster programs for losses not only for 2014 but for losses they experienced in 2012 and 2013.
The program will pay ranchers and farmers for lost animals and provide money for them to purchase feed. The farmers should be paid “shortly” after they sign up, Vilsack told reporters.
Vilsack also said the administration will provide an additional $15 million in conservation assistance for the most extreme and exceptional drought areas.
This includes $5 million in additional assistance to California and $10 million for drought-impacted areas in Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Colorado and New Mexico. The funding is available through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) administered by USDA.
The assistance helps farmers and ranchers implement practices that conserve scarce water resources, reduce wind erosion on drought-impacted fields and improve livestock access to water.
Vilsack noted that this assistance is in addition to other conservation assistance to California that was previously announced.
Feinstein and Boxer have introduced a bill that would force the government to be more flexible in pumping water from federal projects and that would provide other assistance, but Vilsack declined to take a position on that bill.
The Republican-dominated House passed a controversial California drought bill last week, but the White House said that if Congress passed it, Obama’s advisers would recommend that he veto it.
Vilsack said that today’s announcements will be focused on executive actions rather than legislation.
“We will work with the Senate and the House if they can reach consensus. Obviously there is a difference of opinion. Rather than wait for congressional action, we will try to put the resources that are available to work as quickly as possible.”
Vilsack announced a long list of other assistance to California:
California state health officials have already identified 17 small community water districts in 10 counties that are at risk of running out of water in 60-120 days. This number is expected to increase if current conditions persist.
Vilsack also said that Obama has directed other federal agencies to take a number of actions.
He noted that the conservation programs and the tree assistance disaster program, which is also being expedited, would be of assistance to California’s fruit and vegetable industry.
Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., led a bipartisan coalition of senators to write to Vilsack urging him to expedite implementation of the livestock disaster program.
“In 2012, U.S. grazing livestock producers experienced the most devastating loss of pasture, rangeland, and forage in decades due to the widespread drought,” the senators wrote.
“In October 2013, winter storm Atlas, an unexpected early fall blizzard, killed more than 20,000 cattle, sheep, horses and bison in the Dakotas and Nebraska, leaving many livestock producers with less than 50 percent of their livestock herds surviving. …
“Due to the magnitude of pasture, forage, and livestock losses and the urgent need for financial assistance these losses have created, we strongly urge you to place implementation of 2014 farm bill livestock disaster programs as a top priority.”
The livestock disaster programs are expected to provide $100 million in assistance to California ranchers and more than $1 billion nationwide, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters late Thursday in an announcement that was embargoed until 6 a.m. today.
Vilsack will accompany Obama to California. The president is scheduled to arrive in Fresno at 2:30 p.m. PST and also is to be joined by California Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, the state’s senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, both Democrats, Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Michael Connor.
Obama will “visit a farm, participate in a roundtable discussion with farmers and other local stakeholders affected by the drought, and witness firsthand some of the impacts on the region’s agriculture,” the White House said in a news advisory.
During the call, Vilsack noted that the new farm bill reauthorizes disaster programs have not been operational since 2011.
According to a White House fact sheet (see link below), beginning in April producers will be able to sign up for the livestock disaster programs for losses not only for 2014 but for losses they experienced in 2012 and 2013.
The program will pay ranchers and farmers for lost animals and provide money for them to purchase feed. The farmers should be paid “shortly” after they sign up, Vilsack told reporters.
Vilsack also said the administration will provide an additional $15 million in conservation assistance for the most extreme and exceptional drought areas.
This includes $5 million in additional assistance to California and $10 million for drought-impacted areas in Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Colorado and New Mexico. The funding is available through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) administered by USDA.
The assistance helps farmers and ranchers implement practices that conserve scarce water resources, reduce wind erosion on drought-impacted fields and improve livestock access to water.
Vilsack noted that this assistance is in addition to other conservation assistance to California that was previously announced.
Feinstein and Boxer have introduced a bill that would force the government to be more flexible in pumping water from federal projects and that would provide other assistance, but Vilsack declined to take a position on that bill.
The Republican-dominated House passed a controversial California drought bill last week, but the White House said that if Congress passed it, Obama’s advisers would recommend that he veto it.
Vilsack said that today’s announcements will be focused on executive actions rather than legislation.
“We will work with the Senate and the House if they can reach consensus. Obviously there is a difference of opinion. Rather than wait for congressional action, we will try to put the resources that are available to work as quickly as possible.”
Vilsack announced a long list of other assistance to California:
- $5 million in targeted Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program assistance to the most drought impacted areas of California to protect vulnerable soils. EWP helps communities address watershed impairments due to drought and other natural occurrences. This funding will help drought-ravaged communities and private landowners address watershed impairments, such as stabilizing stream banks and replanting upland sites stripped of vegetation.
- $60 million to California food banks to help families whose breadwinners are unemployed or employed only part-time due to the drought. The help is provided to food banks through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).
- 600 summer meal sites to be established in California’s drought stricken areas. USDA is working with the Education Department to set these up through an expansion of the Summer Food Service program.
- $3 million in emergency water assistance grants for rural communities experiencing a significant decline in the quality or quantity of drinking water due to the drought, to be used to obtain or maintain water sources of sufficient quantity and quality.
California state health officials have already identified 17 small community water districts in 10 counties that are at risk of running out of water in 60-120 days. This number is expected to increase if current conditions persist.
Vilsack also said that Obama has directed other federal agencies to take a number of actions.
He noted that the conservation programs and the tree assistance disaster program, which is also being expedited, would be of assistance to California’s fruit and vegetable industry.
Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., led a bipartisan coalition of senators to write to Vilsack urging him to expedite implementation of the livestock disaster program.
“In 2012, U.S. grazing livestock producers experienced the most devastating loss of pasture, rangeland, and forage in decades due to the widespread drought,” the senators wrote.
“In October 2013, winter storm Atlas, an unexpected early fall blizzard, killed more than 20,000 cattle, sheep, horses and bison in the Dakotas and Nebraska, leaving many livestock producers with less than 50 percent of their livestock herds surviving. …
“Due to the magnitude of pasture, forage, and livestock losses and the urgent need for financial assistance these losses have created, we strongly urge you to place implementation of 2014 farm bill livestock disaster programs as a top priority.”
