ElB-Com Talk, Laneaster Fanning, Saturday, -October ,1 S r 2002
NCGA Sends Crop Disaster
Aid Proposal To The Hill
WASHINGTON, D.C.
The National Com Growers
Association (NCGA) has sent
a letter to leaders of the House
and Senate Agriculture Com
mittees outlining NCGA’s dis
aster assistance proposal and
commenting on agriculture
disaster assistance legislation
awaiting action in the House
and Senate.
The letter, signed by NCGA
President Tim Hume, was
sent to Sen. Tom Harkin (D
-lowa), chairman of the Senate
Committee on Agriculture;
Sen. Richard Lugar, (R-Indi
ana), ranking minority mem
ber, Senate Committee on Ag
riculture; Rep. Larry
Combest, (R-Texas), chair
man, House Committee on
Agriculture; and, Rep. Charlie
Stenholm, (D-Texas), ranking
minority member, House
Committee on Agriculture.
In the letter, Hume said,
“As you know all too well, se
vere drought conditions and
floods have taken a serious
toll on farmers and ranchers
during the past two years. De
spite significant improvements
made to the federal crop in
surance program and farm
safety net programs, economic
losses caused by these natural
disasters will require addition
al assistance to allow produc
ers the opportunity to rebuild
their operations.
“The supplemental market
assistance provided to row
crop producers by the Con
gress in recent years has been
ability
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extremely helpful,” said
Hume. “However, five years
of depressed commodity
prices and an overall weak
economy have deteriorated
the financial resources of
many producers who have op
erated within the slimmest of
margins.”
The letter went on to say
NCGA recognizes the federal
crop insurance program as the
primary risk management tool
for producers and urged con
tinued efforts to build upon
the sizable increase in produc
er participation and purchases
of higher levels of coverage
that have resulted from the
Agriculture Risk Protection
Act of 2000.
“Given the importance of
crop insurance to U.S. pro
duction agriculture, NCGA
urges changes that allow for a
more common sense approach
as rules are updated and inno
vative risk management prod
ucts are introduced to increase
coverage for actual losses.”
Hume said NCGA is also
urging Congress move for
ward quickly and adopt disas
ter assistance legislation en
suring timely, adequate aid to
those who have suffered sig
nificant crop losses.
“NCGA believes that re
forms of the Crop Disaster
Program (CDP) are needed to
recognize individual produc
er’s investments in crop insur
ance policies and to avoid du
plication of federal benefits,”
he said. “Without changes,
the CDP will continue to pro
vide assistance on crops that
were insurable with subsidized
insurance contracts and target
disproportionate levels of dis
aster payments to low yields
that could have been covered
by federal crop insurance.
“The fact is growers can
still experience a 35 percent
crop loss, be impacted by sub
stantial financial losses and
see little, if any, payments
from their crop insurance pol
icy or the Crop Disaster Pro-
gram.”
NCGA has proposed
an alternative approach
to crop disaster assist
ance; one that would
complement the federal
crop insurance program
rather than duplicate
the insurance coverage
under the current Crop
Disaster Program.
According to the letter,
“NCOA’s Companion
Disaster Assistance Pro
gram (CDAP) would
provide more equitable
payments to a predeter
mined percentage of the
insurance deductible loss
that is not insured.
Rather than targeting
payments for low yields
that could be covered
with crop insurance,
CDAP would provide
greater assistance to
crop insurance partici
pants impacted by crop
losses as high as 60 per-
Quote:
“We plant a lot of
Golden Harvest
H-6726 and it does
very well for us.
Very good numbers
on digestibility,
which is what we
look for in the dairy
business.”
Mike Kennis,
Dußois, PA
Golden
Harvest
(d®in ttiii mm
cent. Moreover, CDAP would
ensure that a producer’s disas
ter payments and indemnity
payments do not exceed a
crop’s expected value.”
The letter concluded by say
ing, “Recognizing the limited
time remaining before ad
journment, NCGA stands
ready to work with you and
your colleagues to expedite
consideration and passage of a
more effective and equitable
crop disaster assistance pro
gram. We appreciate the ex-
PENNSYLVANIA CORN GROWERS ASSOC.. INC.
ceptional work of this Con-
gress on behalf of U.S.
agriculture and want to again
offer our support for legisla-
tion to assist producers who
will suffer significant financial
losses as a result of severe
weather conditions.”
For more information on
the letter and to read it in its
entirety, visit www.ncga.com.