Daily News Update, Nov. 30, 2007
Cattlemen seeking
disaster assistance extension
NCBA is
urging Senate leaders to extend the eligibility date for disaster
assistance coverage to include producers who faced hardships after
February 2007. Fourteen Senators sent a letter on November 16th
urging this extension to Sens. Robert Byrd (D-W.V.), Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.),
Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Robert Bennett (R-Utah). Byrd chairs the
Senate Appropriations Committee; Kohl chairs the Ag Appropriations
Subcommittee, and Cochran and Bennett are the respective ranking
members. The letter asks the Committee to extend the eligibility date
for ag disaster aid programs, specifically the Crop Disaster Program,
the Livestock Compensation Program (LCP) and Livestock Indemnity Program
(LIP) to December 31, 2007.
In the emergency supplemental bill passed earlier this year, Congress
included agriculture disaster assistance to provide much-needed aid to
livestock producers who were dealt a blow by floods, wildfires, drought
and other natural disasters. But the cut-off date for eligibility is
February 28, 2007, which leaves out many producers who have experienced
losses this year.
A similar
request has been made to appropriators in the U.S. House of
Representatives.
“Unfortunately, this deadline leaves many agriculture producers who have
experienced economic losses during this turbulent year without a safety
net,” wrote the Senators. “Such timely assistance makes a significant
difference in the lives of farmers, ranchers, and rural communities.”
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