By MINDY POEHL |
Central Texas Edition Country World News, the rural newspaper of Texas

OCT. 26, 2006 – U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards of Texas, ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee Collin Peterson of Minnesota, and Texas Farm Bureau President Kenneth Dierschke, joined District 17 farmers and ranchers at the Waco Texas Farm Bureau headquarters for a press conference on Monday, Oct. 16. The main topic discussed was the urgent need for Congress to pass drought assistance legislation to help America’s farmers and ranchers recover from severe losses.

Texas is in the midst of suffering from severe drought losses, with an estimated $2.6 billion in crop losses and $1.5 billion to the livestock industry this year.

“Our farmers and ranchers have been hit hard by drought, and America’s farm economy is in danger if Congress does not act now,” Edwards said. “In emergency situations like this, the federal government has a responsibility to support our farmers and ranchers who are a vital part of America’s economy.”

A local District 17 rancher spoke about what concerned him, saying, “To conserve forage, producers began marketing calves earlier than normal, and selling them at lighter weights, which cost us millions of dollars. The scaling back of the state’s cow herd may have long-term impacts on ranchers, local communities, feedyards and the state’s economy as it shrinks the cattle industry’s contribution to the state’s economic output for the future.”

Edwards and Peterson are supporting a discharge petition (H. Res. 998) to force a House vote on agriculture disaster assistance legislation (H.R. 5099 and H.R. 5363), which would provide $4 billion for comprehensive drought assistance.

So far, the House has refused to bring the legislation up for a vote. As soon as 218 members of Congress sign the discharge petition, a vote would occur in the House of Representatives, despite their objection. To date, 195 Democrats, two Republicans and one Independent have signed the petition and more than 30 farm and allied organizations signed a letter encouraging all members of Congress to sign the discharge petition.

“Farmers and ranchers in these communities are struggling and may not be able to stay in business without disaster assistance,” Edwards said.

More than 71 percent of all U.S. counties have been declared primary or contiguous disaster areas by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) this year, and last year 78 percent of counties were primary or contiguous disaster areas.

In August, the USDA announced disaster assistance of $50 million, which would only provide $16.1 million for Texas farmers. This amount falls short of the $4.1 billion in losses incurred to date, explained Edwards, “so we must do something about this large scale problem.”