23 June 2004
Governor, Ag Secretary press USDA for drought aid
Governor Kathleen Sebelius and Secretary of Agriculture Adrian Polansky today sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman urging her to take action to help farmers and ranchers who have lived with drought for several years.
“The drought hasn’t relented in western Kansas and many farmers and ranchers are in peril,” Sebelius said. “I believe there are actions USDA can take to lessen the drought’s impact.”
In their letter, Sebelius and Polansky suggest that money earmarked for loan deficiency and counter-cyclical payments be made available for drought disaster assistance.
“The current farm bill provides absolutely no security for producers affected by disasters,” Polansky said. “Producers who don’t harvest a crop aren’t eligible for a loan deficiency payment. And, where a crop is harvested and even if it’s marginal, prices are high enough that producers don’t qualify for a counter-cyclical payment.”
Another concern is the way historical crop production is determined. Currently, benefits for crop insurance and guaranteed loans are calculated using an individual producer’s production data for the previous 10 years. Since some areas of Kansas have experienced drought for nearly half that long, the production data trends downward.
“We suggest a more flexible interpretation of policy to allow using countywide historical production data that more accurately reflects an area’s production potential,” Sebelius said. “That way, producers experiencing losses receive the full intended benefit of these programs.”
Sebelius and Polansky also encouraged USDA to make more timely releases of conservation reserve program acres for haying and grazing. They suggested that USDA rely on long-term weather predictions made using sophisticated technology to expedite releases.
“Too often, CRP acres are opened for emergency haying and grazing after the forage quality has deteriorated to the point it’s marginally useful,” Polansky said. “I think USDA should be more proactive by making it available when it still has some value.”
Sebelius and Polansky traveled to the Goodland area June 8, where they examined a field of wheat that failed to emerge after it was planted last fall because there simply wasn’t enough subsoil moisture.
“For people in eastern Kansas it’s hard to imagine the plight of western Kansas farmers,” Sebelius said. “We’ve had rain -- too much of it at times. But out west it’s still dry.”
The drought’s impact on this year’s wheat production is not yet known, but recent reports from the Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service indicate the crop ranks 48 percent poor to very poor. In 2002, drought had a $1.1 billion impact on crop production. In 2003, timely spring rains boosted wheat production to its third highest level on record, but drought damage to fall crops was estimated to be as high as $275 million.
Last week, Sebelius expanded the list of western Kansas counties under a state-declared drought emergency to 31. That action was prompted by the latest outlook from the U.S. Climate Prediction Center, which calls for drought to persist through the summer in western Kansas and possibly expand to south-central Kansas in the coming months.
Sebelius soon will begin seeking county drought disaster designations from USDA to make producers in affected counties eligible for low-interest loans.
More about drought in Kansas can be found online:www.accesskansas.org/kda/droughtinfo.htm.
