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Iowa farmers must wait for disaster aidWASHINGTON (AP)--It will be another year before farmers receive disaster checks to compensate them for losses in this year's flooding. Deputy Agriculture Secretary Charles Conner told a congressional panel Sept. 24 that payments can't be made until average crop prices are determined for the 2008 crop year. Conner says the federal agency can issue checks next fall. Farmers can receive payments when their revenue drops more than 50 percent due to weather-related disasters. "We will be in a position to issue those checks next fall once we have the data that's necessary," Conner told a joint hearing of the Senate agriculture and homeland security committees. That prompted Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-LA, to complain that for those whose farms were devastated by flooding from hurricanes Gustav and Ike, "Next year is too late." Conner replied that the law required that his department must wait. Some have called for the agency to give farmers advances on their estimated disaster payments. Conner said the U.S. Department of Agriculture will likely pay about $5 billion in crop insurance indemnities. That compares to indemnities of about $3.5 billion a year in 2006 and 2007. Many also are seeking federal aid to restore flood-damaged terraces and grass waterways. Lyle Asell, a special assistant in the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said Iowa needs at least $225 million from an emergency watershed program to pay for restoration projects and to buy permanent easements from landowners to flood-damaged land. 10/6/08 Date: 9/30/08 Advertisement
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