Responding to calamities that range from drought in the West to floods in the Southeast, the House Agriculture Committee approved an $8.5 billion disaster relief bill on Tuesday to cover farm and ranch losses in 2020 and this year. Producers would be eligible for up to $250,000 a year in aid.
“We’ve got wildfires that are just devastating our nation,” said Agriculture chairman David Scott, of Georgia. “This is an issue for all of us.” The bill, approved by voice vote with no objections, would extend the life of the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program-Plus (WHIP+), created to cover 2018 and 2019 disasters, for two years and broaden its scope of coverage.
The expanded WHIP+ would cover damage such as the derecho that hit Iowa corn and soybean fields last summer – “the most costly thunderstorm in U.S. history,” according to Iowa Rep. Randy Feenstra – and smoke tainted wine grapes from wildfires in California. Tainted grapes carry “almost a medicinal taste,” said Rep. Jimmy Panetta from the Central Coast. “Those products are almost impossible to market.”
Lawmakers said aid should reach producers more rapidly because they are using an existing program. “The timing of assistance can be a matter of survival for farmers and ranchers,” said North Carolina Rep. Alma Adams. It took a year for federal assistance to reach farmers after Hurricane Florence in 2018, she said.
All the same, the bill faces hurdles, including passage by the House and Senate, before it will become law. In addition, the bill authorizes disaster assistance but does not provide the money for it. Scott “is exploring all potential vehicles to fund and to enact this important legislation,” said a spokesman.
The House may debate an amendment this week by California Rep. David Valadao that highlights the need to put money into WHIP+ to cover losses this year and last year. “I am glad to see the (Agriculture) Committee expanding and re-authorizing this program as well as it directly benefits people who are in desperate need in the wake of a disaster,” said Valadao.
Farm groups such as the National Farmers Union and the National Association of Wheat Growers said USDA assistance is needed in the face of wildfires in the West, persistent drought that stretches from the upper Midwest to the Pacific Ocean and damage from the frigid “polar vortex” in Texas last winter.
“Unfortunately, these kinds of extreme weather events are only expected to worsen in the years to come, making it harder and harder for farmers to stay in business,” said NFU president Rob Larew.
Payment limits under the expanded WHIP+ would be the consistent with the 2018 and 2019 rules, said a summary of the bill. They amounted to $250,000 per person per year, if at least 75 percent of a producer’s adjusted gross income was from farming; otherwise the limit was $125,000.
If producers accept a WHIP+ payment, they are obliged to buy crop insurance for the next two years. Backers said the requirement would strengthen the crop insurance program. Years ago, Congress increased taxpayer support of crop insurance as a way to avert the need of disaster bailout bills. The government pays roughly 62 cents of each $1 in premium, a total of $6.3 billion last year.
Also on Tuesday, USDA’s Risk Management Agency, which oversees crop insurers, gave farmers an additional 60 days to pay their insurance premiums without incurring a penalty. “Farmers and ranchers are weathering tough drought conditions this year, and we want to help ease the burden by extending payment deadlines and deferring interest accrual,” said Richard Flournoy, acting RMA administrator.
To watch a video of the House Agriculture Committee meeting, click here.
Information about the disaster bill, HR 267, is available here.