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Senator Amy Klobuchar Questions Agriculture Secretary Johanns on Ag Disaster Assistance for Minnesota

February 7, 2007

(Washington, D.C.) U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, today questioned the Administration's Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns about why the Administration's budget did not include disaster assistance for Minnesota farmers. Klobuchar explained that state farmers were hit with heavy rains and flooding in 2005 and drought in 2006 and deserved government assistance for these unforeseen circumstances.

Senator Klobuchar directly asked Secretary Johanns, "Minnesota farmers have been hit with heavy losses for two consecutive years. The combined costs of these disasters to Minnesota's farm economy was more than 700 million dollars over both years. Given the fact that the 2002 farm bill commodity programs have cost something like 25 billion less than originally anticipated, why don't we see support from the Administration for five billion in disaster assistance for those farmers who suffered loses over the last two years?"

Secretary Johanns responded, ". . . I feel strongly we need to solve this disaster issue because it's an annual event . . . and farmers told me that was no safety net. I really believe that working with the proposals we have, and maybe there are some other ideas, there are some things that really will be a safety net for farmers of disaster relief situations."

Klobuchar also expressed concern that Administration's proposal to expand crop insurance was an inadequate substitute for a permanent program of disaster assistance. The Administration's draft farm bill would provide increased crop insurance coverage for farmers in cases where there are county-wide losses of 10 percent or more, but do nothing for individual farmers struck by localized natural disasters like flooding and storms that may not impact the whole county. "We have some big counties in Minnesota where you might have a part of the county where farmers are totally wiped out but the rest of the county is fine. Have you looked at refiguring your proposal for that situation?" A Department official acknowledged that the Administration's proposal would not provide emergency relief to farmers in such cases.