Agricultural News
President Obama Tours Farm, Talks Drought
Mon, 13 Aug 2012 14:54:28 CDT
President Obama toured a family farm in Ohio Monday and used it as an opportunity to call on the House leadership to pass the 2012 farm bill.
Obama spoke for about five minutes to a group of people at the farm of Dean, Don, Richard, and Roger McIntosh. The McIntosh family has been farming in the Missouri Valley for almost 100 years.
"Like a lot of families in this area, the McIntoshes are suffering under one of the worst droughts in 50 years," Obama said. "It's hot. It's dry. And the summer's not over yet."
Obama was joined for the tour by Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack.
The President said farmers, "can't wait for Congress to do its job," and outlined several initiatives his administration is working on to alleviate repercussions of the drought on agricultural producers. The USDA announced earlier that it plans to by up to $170 million worth of pork, lamb, poultry and catfish to aid farmers.
The McIntosh brothers farm 2,200 acres, with approximately 60 percent planted to corn and 40 percent planted to soybeans. The brothers estimate their crop yield will be down by at least one-third due to the drought.
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