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Ranchers Lose Hope Drought Aid Will Come in Time

By MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press
OMAHA, Neb. August 19, 2012 (AP)

It's hard to tell what frustrates Todd Eggerling more — the weather or Congress.

Searing temperatures and drought scorched Eggerling's land in southeast Nebraska, leaving little grass to feed his 100 cattle. Then Congress left for a five-week break without agreeing on aid to help ranchers through one of the worst droughts in the nation's history.

That means it will be September before Eggerling and other ranchers can even hope for disaster aid legislation that includes cash to buy feed until they would normally send their cattle to feedlots or slaughter in the fall or winter. For some, it's already too late. Out of grass and out of cash, they've sold their animals.

For others, time is rapidly running out as they try to hold on. Their decisions will affect the price and supply of meat for months, perhaps years, to come.

"I'd like to see every one of the senators and congressmen go out into one of these widespread, drought-stricken areas and spend a day," said Eggerling, 44, of Martell, Neb. "Walk around and see the effects of what's going on. Look at the local economies and see what's going to happen to them. Then they can go back to Washington with a real perspective and say, 'Hey; we need to do something.'"

Most farmers are having a hard year with drought and unusually warm temperatures in the middle of the country burning up everything from corn to cabbage. But ranchers are in a particularly precarious position because most don't have access to federally subsidized insurance programs that cover crops like corn and soybeans.

Private companies won't insure grazing land because it's too hard to predict losses, and ranchers say pilot programs tested by the U.S. Department of Agriculture are too expensive and pay out little when there's a loss, Nebraska Farm Service Agency director Dan Steinkruger said.

The White House announced last week that the federal government will buy up to $170 million worth of pork and other meat for food assistance programs in an effort to help drought-stricken farmers. The Defense Department also was expected to encourage its vendors to speed up meat purchases in an effort to prop up prices with a glut on the market expected in the next few months.

Feed prices soared amid the drought, and livestock farmers have been selling off animals for months as they run out of money. The meat is expected to hit grocery stores this fall, with prices dropping briefly and then rising early next year. Meanwhile, farmers are getting a fraction of what their animals would normally be worth at sales.

"It's not like we can hold our products — like setting a shirt on a shelf until it sells for the price we set," said Kristen Hassebrook, a spokeswoman for the Nebraska Cattlemen, a trade group. "We can't just tell that steer or heifer to stop eating for a couple of days until the market share goes up. If we can't feed that animal, we have to sell it for whatever the price is that day."

The Obama administration also has offered low-interest emergency loans, opened federal land for grazing and distributed $30 million to get water to livestock. Farmers say they'll take what help they can get, but emergency loans come with a tangle of red tape and aren't available to everyone. Water is appreciated, but animals need to eat, and even with grazing on some federal land, hay is in short supply.

The House approved $383 million in disaster relief earlier this month, but Congress went home before the Senate acted on the bill. The Senate had previously passed a disaster aid package as part of a five-year farm bill, but GOP leaders in the House refused to bring that to a vote because many Republicans object to the nearly $80 billion included for the food stamp program.

The standoff left ranchers uncertain about what to do: Should they buy expensive feed, assuming the federal government will ultimately help them pay the bill, or should they sell their cattle at a loss, knowing they may find out later they would have been eligible for aid?

"For Congress to put this off for five weeks until they come back is really, really difficult to understand," said Michael Kelsey, executive vice president of Nebraska Cattlemen.

With no grass for grazing, Eggerling cut corn and soybeans stunted by the drought to use as cattle feed. But that will soon run out, he said, and he'll send animals he can't feed to slaughter. Because they haven't reached their full weight and he's paid by the pound, he'll take a loss.

"If I get out of this year with a $50,000 net loss, I'll be happy," he said.

It's not clear how much money individual ranchers would receive even if Congress passed the House bill upon members' return. The estimated $383 million disaster relief package would be divvied up among eligible applicants, and a number of factors would be considered in deciding awards. Some may get nothing. Others could get tens of thousands of dollars.

Eggerling said any aid will likely come too late for him. If Congress had passed a bill before the break in early August, he could have hastily made arrangements to buy hay. Two weeks further into the drought, it's almost impossible to find feed that doesn't have to be shipped from several states away at exorbitant prices, he said.

For aid to matter now, Congress also would have to open all federal conservation land for grazing or cutting hay and make sure those selling hay from federal land are doing it at cost, he said.

"Right now, it's being scalped," Eggerling said.

Rep. Leonard Boswell, a member of the House Agriculture Committee who raises cattle in drought-ravaged southern Iowa, said he understands ranchers' plight. He's been forced to use hay left over from last year to feed his 130 head of cattle this summer because the drought burned up most of the grass on his 480-acre farm just east of Lamoni.

"I'm very sensitive to having a safety net that's affordable, accessible and workable," Boswell said. "It's one of the reasons I've been very keen on getting this farm bill done, and I'm very, very disappointed that we are where we are."

But groups like the anti-tax Club for Growth continue to push conservative lawmakers to block the farm bill and aren't even sold on the House's one-time disaster relief bill.

"If it's not offset, then we would strongly consider opposing it," Club for Growth spokesman Barney Keller said. "We don't have the money to continue to deficit spend without cutting spending somewhere else."

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press

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Obama pledges drought support

By JOSH GERSTEIN | 8/11/12 7:06 AM EDT

The federal government is pulling out all the stops to help farmers and ranchers struggling with severe drought conditions and the searing heat that has persisted across much of the country this summer, President Barack Obama said in a weekly address [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRWZuIk7w1k (just above)] released Saturday.

“Cattle farmers are struggling to feed their animals. Many folks are seeing their livelihoods dry up in front of their eyes. And if we don’t get relief soon, Americans everywhere will start feeling the pinch, with higher prices on grocery store shelves all across the country,” Obama said. “We can’t let that happen.”

The president outlined a series of steps the government is already taking, including low-interest emergency loans to farmers and increased access to federal lands for cattle grazing.

“This is an all-hands-on-deck response, and we’ll be doing even more in the coming weeks to help families and communities that are suffering right now,” Obama said.

Obama also blamed Congress for limiting the federal response.

“Congress needs to do its part, too. They need to pass a farm bill that not only helps farmers and ranchers respond to these kinds of disasters, but also makes necessary reforms and gives them some certainty year-round. That’s the single best way we can help rural communities right now, and also in the long-term,” the president said, explicitly urging Americans to call their lawmakers and get the legislation passed.

“Too many Americans are suffering right now to let politics get in the way,” he said.

The drought crisis is something of a political distraction for Obama at a time when he’s spending many of his days in a handful of swing states that could be key to his re-election this fall. He listed five states Saturday as most hard hit by the drought — Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas. None of those is expected to be in his column in November or even be in significant doubt.

However, he mentioned twice in his address that the effects of the drought could be felt in food prices nationwide if it doesn’t abate. “At times like these, it doesn’t matter if you live in Des Moines or Detroit – we’re Americans first,” he insisted.

Much of the language in Obama’s pre-recorded statement — distributed via radio, TV and over the Internet — was nearly identical to comments he made Tuesday when he convened his “rural council” at the White House. The group is headed by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and includes representatives of more than two dozen federal agencies whose work affect rural communities.

While Obama emphasized that the heat in July broke records kept for the past century, absent from his address Saturday was any broader discussion of climate change or of efforts to fight it.

So-called cap-and-trade legislation to limit carbon emissions was an early priority of the president’s administration. The legislation passed the House in 2009 [ http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/24232.html ] but ran aground in the Senate the following year [ http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/40132.html ]. The White House has been largely silent on the issue ever since, though officials have worked to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and to increase the fuel efficiency of cars and trucks.

© 2012 POLITICO LLC

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79581.html [with comments]


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Rep. Hartzler: Failure to act on ag disaster bill ‘a true shame'

By Sara Wyant

WASHINGTON, August 18, 2012 - Rep. Vicky Hartzler a freshman member of the House Agriculture Committee, delivered the weekly GOP address today and criticized Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama for failure to act on the farm disaster package that passed the U.S. House of Representatives shortly before the August recess.

Hartzler, who farms and operates farm equipment dealerships with her husband near Harrisonville, Missouri, said she was “relieved earlier this month when the House passed a bipartisan measure helping farmers devastated by the ongoing drought. A lot was riding on this bill, but the Senate, a body controlled by the president’s party, left Washington for the month of August without even bringing it to a vote.

“The president has seen fit to politicize this issue, but the fact is he didn’t urge the Senate to act. “That is a true shame. Drought conditions continue to worsen, and the shaky state of the economy only amplifies our anxiety.

President Obama spent three days campaigning in Iowa this week and frequently criticized GOP House leaders for not passing a new five-year farm bill to help drought-stricken farmers.

Hartzler also talked about the importance of getting government out of the way to enable businesses to create more jobs and improve the economy.

“Here in the Show Me State, we expect our leaders to offer solutions to our most pressing challenges, especially when the going gets tough. But these days, the president doesn’t even want to talk about the bad economy, let alone do anything about it. That, too, is a shame,” Hartzler added.

To view the video, click: http://www.youtube.com/HouseConference

#30

For more news, go to: www.Agri-Pulse.com

©2012 Agri-Pulse Communications Inc.

http://www.agri-pulse.com/Hartzler-failure-to-act-disaster-bill-true-shame-08182012.asp [no comments yet]


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