Agricultural News
Lincoln Wants More Crop Disaster Assistance
Mon, 13 Sep 2010 17:31:19 CDT
The Department of Agriculture has come up with approximately 550 million dollars to compensate producers who suffered weather-related crop losses in 2009. That’s a little more than one-third of the 1.5 billion dollars Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln tried to get though Congress for the same purpose. Agri-Pulse reports that USDA proposed to send the dollars to farmers only in counties that received a disaster designation last year. The payments would cover yield losses for cotton and rice but not corn or soybeans.
Chairman Lincoln balked at the offer after southern farm interests complained too few growers would receive assistance. During a reelection debate in Arkansas, Lincoln signaled her dissatisfaction saying - I think it’s worth fighting for and I’ll continue to. Mrs. Lincoln added - the reason the negotiations are ongoing is because I want to get the best deal I possibly can for Arkansas farmers.
Ag groups representing the region’s farmers quickly expressed their concerns. Rice producers predicted no reimbursement for higher production costs while Texas cotton growers pointed out their losses were due to drought conditions. In its current form, the disaster package is also said to include 60-million dollars for contract poultry farmers affected by processing plant closures and a smaller amount for aquaculture growers.
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