disaster relief

Payments totaling $235 million are being issued this week to producers hit by natural disasters, including Hurricane Milton in Florida, said the Agriculture Department. The payments make up the bulk of $375 million in spending announced for various USDA programs on Wednesday.

The USDA will work with farmers and rural communities to help them recover from “significant” losses caused by Hurricane Helene, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday. As an example, he said, “We’re working with crop insurance companies now to expedite payments so farmers will receive help in November, if not sooner.”

Senators from Arkansas, California, Colorado, and Montana held their first meeting on Tuesday as members of the bipartisan Senate Wildfire Caucus as advocates of disaster relief funding, wildfire prevention, and science-based fire management policies. Wildfires have burned an average of 6.4 million acres, or 1,000 square miles, of land over the past five years.

Congress should give farm-state lawmakers additional funding for writing the new farm bill, said the National Farmers Union, the second-largest U.S. farm group, following its annual meeting. The NFU said the 2023 farm bill should address climate change through such steps as crop insurance discounts for farmers who plant cover crops or employ other practices that increase resiliency or decrease risk.

Beginning later this month, farmers across the nation will receive around $6 billion in disaster relief for losses due to catastrophic weather and wildfires, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday. The money, part of $10 billion earmarked for agricultural disasters, would be paid through the new Emergency Relief Program (ERP) to offset lower yields and value losses, said the Agriculture Department.

Livestock producers will receive at least $577 million in disaster payments to offset forage losses due to severe drought or wildfires last year, said the Agriculture Department on Thursday.

U.S. companies should give farmers a break by withdrawing their petitions for anti-dumping duties on imported fertilizer, said a corn farmer group at a House hearing on Tuesday that was dominated by reports of rising crop production costs. Farm groups generally called for higher price supports in the upcoming 2023 farm bill, with rice, soybean and cotton growers saying the $125,000-a-person annual limit on crop subsidies was too low.

Food banks in Louisiana will receive up to 800,000 packages of shelf-stable food for distribution this month to people in areas struck by Hurricane Ida, said the USDA on Thursday.

In its largest set of declarations since mid-May, the USDA designated 101 counties in the Midwest and West as natural disaster areas due to drought. The designations make farmers and ranchers eligible for USDA emergency loans.

Farmers from Georgia to California told a House Agriculture subcommittee on Wednesday that the foundation of the 2023 farm bill should be the taxpayer-subsidized crop insurance system. They also expressed interest in the creation of a standby disaster relief fund.

The USDA said Thursday it would buy $159.4 million worth of U.S.-produced seafood, nuts, fruits, and vegetables for its public nutrition programs, including donations to charity. The deal includes the agency's single largest purchase of seafood ever.

The long-delayed, $19.1-billion disaster bill is on its way to the White House for President Trump’s signature. The House passed the bill, which includes $3 billion in agricultural aid, 354-58.

First-term Rep. John Rose, declaring it was “absolutely, without a doubt, wrong” to pass a $19.1-billion disaster relief bill without a roll call vote, blocked House action on Thursday on the legislation, which includes $3 billion for agricultural aid.

For the second time in four days, a conservative Republican prevented House passage on Tuesday of the long-delayed $19.1 billion disaster bill that includes $3 billion for agricultural relief. The next opportunity to act on the bill will be Thursday, when the House meets again in a lightly …