22 December 2003

Governor Sebelius Asks for Eight More Counties as Drought Disaster Areas

Governor Kathleen Sebelius sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman last week asking that she designate eight more Kansas counties drought disaster areas to make agricultural producers in those counties eligible for low-interest loans.

ÒOngoing drought caused production losses as high as $275 million this year,Ó Sebelius said. ÒDrought disaster designations and low-interest loans help those farmers who are being pushed to the brink by yet another year of drought.Ó

The eight counties included in todayÕs request are Douglas, Edwards, Franklin, Gove, Lyon, Morris, Pawnee and Pratt.

On Nov. 12, the Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service predicted this yearÕs sorghum production to be down 43 percent from 2001, soybeans by 34 percent and corn by 16 percent. The one bright spot in crop production was wheat, and this yearÕs harvest was reported to be the third largest on record.

Contributing to this yearÕs crop declines were soil moisture deficits that reached as high as 97 percent this summer. On Dec. 1, subsoil moisture rated 69 percent short to very short, while topsoil moisture rated 65 percent short to very short.

According to the U.S. drought monitor, as of Dec. 9, most of Kansas could be classified as experiencing levels of drought ranging from abnormally dry to extreme drought.

In an earlier request made Oct. 27, Sebelius asked Veneman to declare 73 Kansas counties drought disaster areas. Those counties are Allen, Anderson, Atchison, Barber, Barton, Bourbon, Chautauqua, Cheyenne, Clay, Cloud, Coffey, Crawford, Decatur, Dickinson, Doniphan, Elk, Ellsworth, Finney, Ford, Geary, Graham, Grant, Gray, Hamilton, Harper, Haskell, Hodgeman, Jefferson, Jewell, Johnson, Kearny, Kingman, Kiowa, Lane, Leavenworth, Lincoln, Linn, Logan, Marshall, McPherson, Meade, Miami, Mitchell, Nemaha, Neosho, Ness, Norton, Osage, Osborne, Ottawa, Phillips, Pottawatomie, Rawlins, Reno, Republic, Rice, Riley, Rooks, Rush, Russell, Saline, Scott, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Stafford, Stanton, Thomas, Trego, Wallace, Washington, Waubaunsee and Wyandotte.

On Oct. 23, Sebelius received word that Veneman granted her July request to declare Morton County a drought disaster area.

Also, on Sept. 30 Veneman issued a disaster designation covering several Oklahoma counties, which made producers in 11 contiguous Kansas counties eligible for disaster benefits. Producers in Barber, Chautauqua, Clark, Comanche, Cowley, Harper, Meade, Morton, Seward, Stevens and Sumner are now eligible for low-interest loans.

More information about drought in Kansas is available at www.accesskansas.org/kda/droughtinfo.htm.