Governor, Ag Secretary Ask for Expedited Drought Disaster Aid
Governor Kathleen Sebelius announced today that she and Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Adrian Polansky have written to President George Bush and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman asking that they expedite the process for delivering disaster aid to drought-stricken Kansas farmers.
"Our farmers have been waiting since last summer to hear if they would receive much needed drought disaster aid," Sebelius said. "Now that aid has been approved by Congress and the president, we learn that farmers won't be able to apply for it until this summer."
The $3.1 billion aid package Congress approved would deliver roughly $200 million to Kansas farmers and ranchers severely impacted by drought. Kansas State Research and Extension economists have estimated that 2002 revenue from Kansas' top crops - wheat, grain sorghum, corn and soybeans - will be $1.1 billion less than in 2001.
"We're concerned with getting this aid to where it's needed - in farmers' hands," Polansky said. Drawing on his eight-year experience as head of the Kansas Farm Service Agency, he said that using existing crop insurance data would speed up the process.
"If crop insurance data can suffice for an indemnity payment, I don't know why it can't be used to determine disaster aid," Polansky said.
Last year, Kansas farmers insured 84 percent of their corn acres, 73 percent of their grain sorghum acres, 77 percent of their soybean acres and 83 percent of their wheat acres.
Even with crop insurance covering 38 percent of their losses, Kansas farmers are expected to report net farm income - the money they have to live on after paying business expenses, taxes and debt service - in the range of $10,000 for 2002. On the low end of the spectrum, some farmers can expect net incomes in the $5,000 range.
"Last year marked a second or third year of drought for some of our farmers," Sebelius said. "We shouldn't ask them to wait another six months for aid that really could be delivered much more quickly."
