WASHINGTON (Dec. 20, 2002) — Thirty-two organizations sent a letter to Congress this week supporting comprehensive emergency disaster aid for crop and livestock producers suffering losses due to weather-related disasters in 2001 and 2002.

With almost 90 percent of all U.S. counties having received a USDA disaster designation in 2002, the joint letter urged Congress to act quickly when it returns in January.

-30-

December 19, 2002

United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

United State House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Member of Congress:

The undersigned organizations write to urge your support for emergency disaster assistance for crop and livestock producers who have suffered losses during the 2001 and 2002 agriculture production years due to natural disasters. Such disaster assistance would be consistent with responses by the U.S. government to natural disasters in the past, including hurricanes, floods, and droughts.

The Food Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 provides increased economic resources, certainty, and stability across a wide range of agricultural, rural, and nutrition programs administered by USDA. For commodities, we believe it was the intent of Congress that the new farm bill reduce or eliminate the need for future ad hoc market loss-related assistance and, instead, provide a similar level of assistance in a more efficient and cost effective manner than the legislation it replaced. In fact, projected outlays for commodity programs under the new law are projected to be significantly less than the annual average federal expenditures incurred since 1998. However, the new farm bill is incapable of predicting and adequately dealing with natural disasters.

Furthermore, due in part to increased prices resulting from the impact of natural disasters, the most recent projected outlays for 2002 are less than originally projected at the signing of the farm bill. Despite these savings and the precedence of assistance for those who suffer from natural disasters, Congress has failed to pass emergency disaster assistance.

For U.S. farmers and ranchers, the current production disaster is multi-faceted. In many areas, drought has decimated row crops and forage and has reduced water supplies available for livestock. In other regions, farmers are experiencing crop destruction and reduced yields and quality due to flooding and an increased incidence of crop pests and diseases. Especially hard-hit are the specialty crops such as apples, cherries and grapes in the Great Lakes region, the eastern states and the Pacific Northwest that suffered frost, freeze and drought damage this season and adverse weather in 2001 that caused a failure of the blossom set required to produce fruit.

The negative economic impact of natural disasters to American agriculture and rural communities continues to grow.

· Almost 90 percent of U.S. counties have received a USDA disaster designation in 2002.
· Over 40 percent have received designations in both 2001 and 2002.
· Washington State alone suffered $100 million in apple crop losses in 2002 due to early freeze.
· Adverse weather conditions cut the expected cotton crop by over 1 million bales. Drought conditions harmed the growing season, and a series of storms hit during harvest, inflicting continued quality and quantity losses. In the Southeast and Mid-South, only 55 percent of the crop achieved a color grade of Strict Low Middling or better. This compares to a five-year average of 81 percent.
· The producers on the Blackfeet Reservation, Montana, lost over 3000 head of cattle in a freak June 3rd snowstorm. The storm did fill stock ponds and provided some additional spring green-up moisture but did not provide enough to alleviate the effects of four years of drought.
· The wheat acreage harvested at 45 million acres is the lowest it has been in the last decade.

Financial assistance is needed now if the economic ruin of farms, ranches and rural businesses caused by these natural disasters is to be averted.

Within the range of its existing options, we believe USDA has taken positive actions to address the weather and disease-related disasters experienced by crop and livestock producers during the 2001 and 2002 production years. Unfortunately, the Department’s authority and resources available to mitigate the losses sustained by farmers, ranchers and rural businesses are inadequate given the full scope of the weather and disease problems confronting American agriculture.

While crop insurance, disaster loans, emergency haying and grazing of Conservation Reserve Program acreage, and the Livestock Compensation Program (LCP) are helpful, the relief they provide cannot effectively respond to the unprecedented and expansive devastation being experienced across a large part of America. We urge your active engagement and support immediately upon convening the 108^th Congress of the emergency disaster assistance legislation passed by the Senate last session.

We urge Congress to approve this legislation and work with the administration to ensure that this emergency program is in place, which provides a responsible level of assistance to those suffering substantial losses as a result of natural disasters. This adequate response is needed immediately to reduce the devastating economic impacts being experienced by farmers, ranchers and their communities throughout much of rural America because of natural disasters beyond their control.

Thank you for your attention to this issue. We look forward to working with you to address this serious situation in a timely and effective manner.

Sincerely,

National Farmers Union
American Farm Bureau Federation
National Grange
National Farmers Organization
American Beekeeping Federation
American Corn Growers Association
American Sheep Industry Association
American Soybean Association
Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative
CoBank
Farm Credit Council
National Association of State Departments of Agriculture
National Association of Wheat Growers
National Barley Growers Association
National Cotton Council
National Grain Sorghum Producers
National Grape Cooperative Association, Inc.
National Milk Producers Federation
National Potato Council
National Sunflower Association
Northeast Farm Credit Regional Council
Northeast States Association for Agricultural Stewardship
R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America
Soybean Producers of America
Southern Peanut Farmers Federation
USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council
U.S. Apple Association
U.S. Canola Association
U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc.
Vidalia Onion Business Council
Welch’s
WIFE