FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, August 26, 2005
Contact: Spence Jackson, (573) 751-0290
Blunt Asks Congressional Delegation to Seek Additional Federal Aid for Missouri Farmers
JEFFERSON CITY—Gov. Matt Blunt today wrote all eleven members of the Missouri congressional delegation seeking assistance in obtaining federal payments for Missouri farmers whose crops were devastated by this year’s drought.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently approved Blunt’s request to have 112 of Missouri’s 114 counties declared disaster areas as a result of the drought, a move that will make farmers in those counties eligible for low-interest loans.
In a letter to the delegation, Blunt said he doesn’t believe the low-interest loans will be enough to sustain many farmers in light of a recent study released by the University of Missouri’s Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) which estimated that losses to the state’s corn and hay crops alone will top $370 million.
Blunt is asking the delegation for assistance in securing cash payments to help mitigate agricultural losses similar to that which was provided through the federal Military Construction and Emergency Hurricane Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2005. The Livestock Assistance Program and Crop Disaster Programs authorized by that legislation reimbursed farmers for qualifying losses to agricultural commodities in 2003 and 2004, as well as for hurricane related damages in 2005.
"We are grateful for the quick response to Missouri’s request for assistance and disaster declaration, but the magnitude of this drought exceeds the help low-interest loans can provide," Blunt said. "Missouri farmers are the backbone of our state’s economy and this natural disaster has adversely impacted them in the same way that hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes impact other businesses. Many of our farmers need this additional assistance to plant next season and continue providing this nation’s food and fiber."
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